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.

And for my weekly round-ups of debt and poverty news items, see Weekly News Summaries.

MaPS to give £38 million more for debt advice – it’s badly needed!

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has announced an increase in its budget for debt support in England in 2020/21 by £38million. And an additional £5.9 million is being allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This new money is in addition to the existing MaPS budget for debt advice of £64 million. It will come from a combination of government funds, reallocated MaPS budget and … [Read more...]

Money Shop, Payday UK / Express – Latest News & FAQs

A "Scheme of Arrangement" is in place paying some money to borrowers from the Money Shop, Payday UK or Payday Express who were given unaffordable loans and who submitted a Claim before the deadline in April 2020. It is now too late to submit a Claim if you have not already done this. The following information comes from the latest Scheme report dated 22 May 2020: 182,566 Claims were … [Read more...]

It’s harder to get good 0% transfer deals in 2020 – but worth trying!

For more than two years the 0% balance transfer credit cards on offer have been getting slowly less good. And there aren't so many, so they are also harder to get. This steady decline has not got a lot worse because of Coronavirus. You may have been shuffling credit card debt around for years with not much problem, but it is becoming harder. Banks are offering a lot fewer deals Two years … [Read more...]

Coronavirus & the reform of Personal Insolvency in England

This article builds on the arguments I put forward in Coronavirus – how the debt advice sector should be planning, looking at one area that needs to be tackled urgently - personal insolvency. Coronavirus will cause a large increase in the numbers of people who should choose insolvency over the next couple of years. I am not trying to predict how many, but it is likely to be large enough to … [Read more...]

Wageday Advance – administration now completed

Summary of the administration Curo Transatlantic Limited (Curo) had two brands: Wageday Advance (WDA), a mid-sized payday lender; and Juo Loans, a small guarantor lender. Curo entered administration on 26 February 2019 because of the number of payday loan affordability complaints they were receiving. They appointed KPMG as Administrators. The Administrators … [Read more...]

Coronavirus – how the debt advice sector should be planning

As lockdown is gradually phased out and furlough payments eventually stop, many people will not be able to return to their pre-Coronavirus situation of being able to manage their debts and bills. Now is the time the debt advice sector should be considering how to prepare for the large demand it may face and what may need to change. We don't know how many people will have problems We don't … [Read more...]

Coronavirus & payday loans – 1 month break with no interest

On 24 April 2020 the FCA published its guidance for payday lenders on customers with Coronavirus difficulties. With other types of credit, customers can have three month payment breaks but interest continues to be added during these breaks. This applies to mortgages, unsecured loans and credit cards, and car finance. But the FCA has taken a very different approach with payday loans. The … [Read more...]

COVID-19, financial decisions & those tricky exponential numbers

This is a guest post by David Steele, Policy and Research Manager at The Money Charity (currently furloughed). He was previously Policy Manager Financial Services for Age UK and Head of the Research and Statistics Unit at the UK Film Council. This blog is written in David’s personal capacity and does not necessarily represent the views of his current employer. With the Sunday … [Read more...]

Wonga – administration ended, company dissolved

The administration of WDFC, the legal company who operated the Wonga brand, was completed in August 2020. The company was finally dissolved in December 2020. See Companies House records for details. Background to the administration - rising complaint numbers A payday loan is "unaffordable" if repaying meant you had to get into more debt, by borrowing again or getting behind … [Read more...]

BrightHouse enters administration – how does this affect customers?

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 have had to shut and many customers are likely to be asking for payment holidays as their income has fallen and they can't manage … [Read more...]