UPDATE court approves the New Business Scheme on 23 May Now the court has approved the Amigo scheme the next stage is for Amigo to announce when the Scheme starts. Amigo will then put up a page where customers, both borrowers and guarantors, can enter a Claim. There will be 6 month time limit for people to make claims. UPDATE on the result of the voting Amigo announced on 13 May that c. … [Read more...]
Debt news and policy
Debt Camel articles on what's changing - and what ought to change - in the world of personal debt in Britain.
If you are interested in a specific area, look at: High cost credit news & policy and Insolvency news & policy.
I write a weekly round-up of debt and poverty news on Sundays. There are only kept for a month or two, see Weekly News Summaries.
Debt News – 22 May 2022
My pick of last week's news is Therese Coffey’s Letter to Ofgem. I wonder what the reply will say? Tweet of the week Dear @Ofgem & @KwasiKwarteng. Pls reverse the recent burden shift to the standing charge (rather than unit rates) for the next price cap. It was regressive & means cutting usage has less impact on bills. Even those using NO energy now pay £165/yr for electricity, … [Read more...]
Vanguard Insolvency closed down – a rogue IVA firm
On 13 May 2022, the Insolvency Service announced that Vanguard Insolvency had been wound up "in the public interest". Vanguard set up and ran Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). These are long-term agreements between a customer and their creditors that are increasingly criticised as being mis-sold to vulnerable customers. However, Vanguard has not been shut down for mis-selling IVAs, … [Read more...]
Debt advice in an age of inflation
At the beginning of 2021, UK inflation was under 1% but by the end of the year it was about 5%. In May 2022, it was up to nearly 9%. More than 20 million household say their energy bills go up by over 50% in April. Petrol price increases are hard for anyone commuting to work by car or living in a rural area. And of course rising food prices are affecting everyone. When it raised UK interest … [Read more...]
BNPL will be on credit records from June but ignored in credit scores
TransUnion announced on 9 February that it can now take data from Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) lenders. Some BNPL debts will start to appear on consumer credit reports such as Credit Karma from summer 2022. UPDATE: In early May it was announced that Klarna will update TransUnion and Experian records from the start of June 2022. But the loans won't be included in credit scores for 18 … [Read more...]
BrightHouse in administration – unlikely to be any money for refunds
UPDATE - in April 2022 the administrators said there was unlikely to be any money to pay any refunds to customers. See below. On 20 March 2020, BrightHouse went into administration. BrightHouse sold electrical appliances, furniture, computers and mobiles on hire purchase. Its customers made weekly payments, sometimes described as "rent-to-own". Coronavirus has meant that its 240 shops … [Read more...]
QuickQuid administration is paying 53.5p in the £
Payments - UPDATE - 25 April 2022 Administrators have started sending emails to everyone with an upheld claim telling them what they will be paid. "The Joint Administrators are now in a position to declare a first and final dividend of 53.5p in the £" The average claim value is c £1,700. Someone with that claim value will get a payout of about £910. The payout details are given in the … [Read more...]
Robo advice – can it deliver good quality debt advice?
"Robo advice" is being used increasingly to provide investment advice to people who can't afford individual advice from an IFA. Can a similar approach deliver good quality debt advice through an automated online process? Face-to-face advice is sometimes seen as both expensive and a process that not all clients may want or need. In this article I examine what robo debt advice can do well, the … [Read more...]
Scarcity – why people in debt need a breathing space
Scarcity: Why having too little means so much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir is a very interesting read for anyone interested in personal debt advice and policy in Britain. Scarcity doesn't just mean lack of money Having less than you need - scarcity - warps your decision making in similar ways whatever you are short of, whether that is money, or time, or if you are on a strict diet or … [Read more...]
More than a third of IVAs fail – and this may get worse
The latest official government statistics (IVA Outcomes - 2021 ) show that increasing numbers of IVAs do not complete. They fail, leaving the borrower back with their debts. 32% of IVAs started in 2016 have failed. And a lot of these 2016 IVAs are still continuing, so the final failure rate will be over a third. If you are thinking of starting an IVA, you need to know about these IVA failure … [Read more...]
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