Debt news – 10 July 2022

My pick of last week’s news are the articles on energy bills.

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Call for evidence: Review of the personal insolvency framework gov.uk: My comment – at last! It’s wide ranging but slow. – I don’t think we can wait for the end of this process for some urgent improvements.

Petrol prices:

• Motorists hit by record monthly hike in petrol prices Sky: RAC analysis found the average cost of a litre of the fuel at UK forecourts rose by 16.6p in June, from 174.8p to 191.4p – the highest monthly increase in records dating back to 2000.
• UK fuel retail market review gov.uk: The CMA is conducting a swift high-level review of competition in the fuel retail market following a request by the Business Secretary.

Energy bills:

• Default Tariff Cap forecast climbs further as Ofgem announcement looms Cornwall Insight (registration required):Ofgem are continually reviewing the cap and there are a raft of consultations and potential reforms which could impact these forecasts. However, as it stands, energy consumers are facing the prospect of a very expensive winter.
• Cost of living: Energy bills forecast to hit £3,363 a year BBC
• Energy suppliers commit to offering more help for customers this winter after round table with consumer groups and charities MSE: My comment: nothing wrong with these measures except their inadequacy given the scale of the problem.
• New Prime Minister must make ending fuel poverty a priority End Fuel Poverty asking candidates to support 5 measures
• I’m being threatened with a visit from the bailiffs over my gas bill. Let them come – I’ve got nothing to give Guardian: Do you spend your last £30 in Lidl on shopping, or pay off a gas or electricity bill to one of the biggest companies in the country? The fact is British Gas can afford to wait, and we can’t afford to pay it.

What Role Does Credit Have In The Cost-Of-Living Crisis? Centre for Responsible Credit: But the growing intensity of the financial pressures on low-income households suggests that any repayment in the near term is going to prove increasingly difficult, regardless of a low, or even zero, interest rate.

Demand for debt services by Lloyds customers jumps 30% Guardian: Three-quarters of bank’s 26m UK customers fear rising prices with 80% holding less than £500 in savings

IVA cost of living guidance:

• Help with IVAs if you can’t pay because of the cost of living my article
• Insolvency: thousands of Britons could cut debt as advice changes Guardian: Balance could be written off or repayments halved after firms told by Insolvency Service to take cost of living crisis into account

Councils evict over 2,500 families for being unable to pay rent during pandemic Mirror: The council that evicted the most households for not paying enough rent in a single year was Sheffield City Council, with 140 evictions in the 2019/20 year.

Why did Barclays revoke my unused overdraft? Guardian: “Barclays told me that it reviews customers’ arranged overdrafts annually and plans to remove those that have remained unused.” My comment – it’s a pity it doesn’t step in to help people who are using theirs a lot and are clearly in difficulty…

Interest rates and risk-based credit limits in the UK credit card market FCA: using the FCA’s 2015 Credit Card Market Study dataset to investigate how UK lenders base choices on customers’ risk.

One in ten Britons have bought crypto assets despite warnings Times (paywall) Research commissioned by HM Revenue & Customs found that about 6.7 million adults owned or have bought crypto assets. This is almost three times higher than estimates from the Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, which said that 2.3 million adults held crypto assets at the start of last year.

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