Debt news and policy Archives

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.

The Money Platform takes payments for loans already repaid

Some Money Platform customers had a payment taken from their bank account unexpectedly and incorrectly on 22 July 2022. This is what one customer said: Shocking from The Money Platform. They’ve made a massive cock up and taken money out of peoples accounts on Friday for loans they had already paid in March. She wasn't the only one. This morning there were over 25 people saying similar things … [Read more...]

Provident is paying 4.2557p in the £

Quick overview Provident's Scheme of Arrangement is now in the final stages. The Scheme was proposed because Provident could not afford to carry on paying full refunds to customers winning affordability complaints. The Financial Ombudsman was upholding 75% of complaints against Provident. The FCA, Provident's regulator, said it did not approve of the Scheme. But as Provident has stopped … [Read more...]

Guarantor lender TFS Loans goes into administration

UPDATE: FCA fines TFS £880,000. On 10 June 2022, the FCA announced: TFS Loans Ltd (in administration) has been fined £811,900 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in relation to deficient affordability checks on 3,150 guarantors in its consumer credit business. The FCA has also imposed a requirement on TFS to redress the guarantors that were harmed by the firm not conducting appropriate … [Read more...]

Zable – a “credit builder” card to avoid [updated]

UPDATE - August 2023 - Zable hikes interest rates for some borrowers Some people have been told that Zable is increasing their interest rate from 38.9% to 48.9%. The customers were told the rate was being increased to reflect changes in Zable's assessment of their credit record. 48.9% is now the "representative rate" that Zable quotes - this makes it one of the most expensive credit … [Read more...]

Amigo’s new Scheme – approved by the Court

UPDATE the Scheme is now live After the court approved the Amigo scheme in May 2022, the Scheme is now live. The deadline for making claims has now passed. See Amigo’s Scheme – waiting for claims to be decided for details. UPDATE on the result of the voting Amigo announced on 13 May that c. 89% of people voting had voted in favour of the new Business Scheme. the next stage in the … [Read more...]

Vanguard, The IVA Adviser, QIS – all failed in 2022

Three large IVA firms failed in 2002: Vanguard Insolvency, which was wound up in May "in the public interest; The IVA Adviser, went into administration in August; QIS went into administration in November. Vanguard was closed after being investigated by the Insolvency Service On 13 May 2022, the Insolvency Service announced that Vanguard Insolvency had been wound up "in the public … [Read more...]

BNPL is now often on credit records, but it’s ignored in credit scores

Klarna details will start to be added to TransUnion and Experian records from June 2022. TransUnion says: Incorporating this data into credit reports will support consumers that are using this type of point-of-sale finance, whilst also ensuring lenders have a comprehensive picture of a borrower’s financial position. But this year TransUnion will not be using the BNPL information when it … [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". Some 172,000 people were buying an item from … [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...]