In 2016 the major UK banks all introduced new "basic bank accounts". One of the main aims was to widen bank account access to groups of people who have found it difficult or impossible to open an account: people who have gone bankrupt previously found it very hard to get a bank account; people in an IVA, DRO or debt management need to change bank accounts and have the overdraft on their … [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.
ClearScore adopts the new Equifax credit scoring out of 1000
In mid November 2021, ClearScore has finally adopted the new 1000 Equifax credit scores. Equifax credit scoring changed in April 2021, when it switched to calculating scores out of 1000 - they used to be calculated out of 700. It also changed the bands used to describe your credit rating. Equifax didn't make an announcement about these changes. The Equifax Credit Report & Score was … [Read more...]
Buddy Loans administration – no money for cash refunds
Advancis Ltd, trading as Buddy Loans, went into administration on 7 September 2021. Buddy Loans was a small guarantor lender. Its loans were typical of the UK guarantor market - between £1,000 and £10,000 lent on a 1-5 year term at a 49.9% APR. The FCA describes these loans as "high cost". Buddy's slogan was: If you've got a good BUDDY, you can get a loan!" Advancis's last available … [Read more...]
There are some good 0% transfer deals in early 2022
At the start of 2022, the longest 0% deals are back up to over 30 months, but there aren't many of them. 2017 was the high water point for 0% balance transfers - you could get deals for 43 months. Then for a couple of years, the deals got gradually shorter and the fees edged up. With the pandemic, most deals disappeared entirely and the few there were much shorter, a maximum of 24 … [Read more...]
How much must you earn to replace the £20 UC cut?
The government wants people to work more to replace the £20 Universal Credit (UC) cut coming up in October. If you would like a simple guide to UC, written by people who are "experts by experience", check out Universal Credit: A guide by claimants, for claimants. Many people would love to earn more but can't get the hours. Others can't work for health reasons or caring … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme rejected – now looking at a new Scheme
UPDATE In May 2022, the new Amigo Scheme was approved by the court and went live. Customers should now submit claims to the Scheme, see Amigo’s Scheme – time to submit a claim for details about this. This page on the old Scheme is now no longer relevant. Please leave any comments and questions on that new page. The approval process for the first Scheme (this ended in rejection) On 30 … [Read more...]
The 2021 IVA protocol – what has changed & will it stop mis-selling?
The IVA Protocol 2021 was published in April 2021. This replaces the old 2016 Protocol which should not be used for new IVAs after 1 August 2021. The terms of IVAs already in progress are not affected by the new version. The new Protocol aims to be easier to understand for people in debt - for example "debtor" has been replaced by "consumer" and it has been put into the typical "gov.uk … [Read more...]
Will the new Enforcement Conduct Authority bring bailiff reform?
In 2020, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) brought together the debt advice sector and the bailiff industry to form the Enforcement Oversight Working Group. This group has co-authored a report called Taking Control for Good - introducing the Enforcement Conduct Authority, published on 25 July by the CSJ. In place of the current system of bailiff self-regulation, the report recommends the … [Read more...]
Provident Scheme – the voting and approval process
UPDATE - the Scheme has now been approved by the court. See Provident Scheme – 4 million people can now claim a refund for how to make a claim and what will happen in the Scheme. Provident Financial Group (PFG proposed a Scheme of Arrangement to reduce the refunds it has to pay to customers given unaffordable loans through its Provident Personal Credit (PPC) subsidiary. There are … [Read more...]
Santander gives NOSIA refunds on some credit cards
UPDATE in August 2021 Barclaycard is sending out some letters saying "they have noticed a mistake was made with one or more statutory notices(s) in the past". That's very vague! But those too may well be the "NOSIA refunds" described in this article. In June 2021, Santander sent some credit card customers a letter saying they would be paid a refund because Santander had failed to send them … [Read more...]
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