On 2nd October 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that Wonga had agreed to compensate an estimated 375,000 customers where Wonga's "affordability" checks are likely to have been inadequate. The common reactions were first that Wonga was being made an example of to warn other payday lenders and second that this was a huge number of refunds... But should many more people get … [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.
And for my weekly round-ups of debt and poverty news items, see Weekly News Summaries.
Wonga write-offs for 375,000 people in 2014
Wonga is offering write-offs to 375,000 of its current customers because its affordability assessments have been inadequate. This was agreed with its regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and announced on 2nd October 2014. Wonga has agreed to make significant changes to its business immediately to try to prevent these problems happening in future. Who is being compensated? The … [Read more...]
FCA warns debt management firms
In September 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a press release warning debt management firms, payday lenders and credit brokers that: "Many firms are falling well short of our expectations and they will need to raise their game if they want to continue operating." The FCA had only become the regulator for debt management firms in April. As a result, many of these firms … [Read more...]
Debt Camel is One – and it’s been a busy year!
On 12th September 2013, Debt Camel went live. This seems like a good time to reflect on how the first year has gone and look forward to the next year. Most read pages Apart from the Home page, the most read page was the main one explaining Bankruptcy – the big questions. I think I would have guessed that correctly if I had been asked on launch day! What I wouldn't have predicted were the next … [Read more...]
The secured loan clause in IVAs – a potential timebomb?
Background - secured loans and IVAs The following is a brief summary. Before 2014, most IVAs had terms which say a debtor with equity in their house must try to release some of it in the fifth year of the IVA through a remortgage; and that if this isn't possible a sixth year of IVA payments will be required. At the start of this year the IVA Standard Protocol was updated to include an … [Read more...]
DRO consultation – what changes are needed?
In August 2014, the Insolvency Service issued a Consultation on Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and Bankruptcy petition limits. I think there are a lot of problems with the personal insolvency regime in England and Wales (see my article last week about the recent insolvency statistics) and so this consultation provides a welcome opportunity for the Insolvency Service to get industry responses on many … [Read more...]
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