Debt news – 24 April 2022

My pick of last week’s news is ‘Can that be legal?’ UK tenants forced from their homes by soaring rents.

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Debt news

Scoping the future of regional debt advice services MaPS: MaPS announced recently that, before commissioning regional debt advice provision in England, we will engage directly with people with lived experience of debt, advisers, advice organisations and wider stakeholders.  My comment – here is their survey, being promoted on Twitter, which isn’t a great place to try to contact people who need local debt advice provision…

Will you still be paying the mortgage at 75? Mail: NatWest ups its age limit to 75 and maximum term to 40 years – With people living longer and pensions becoming less generous for many, some say lenders have been left with little choice but to extend the repayment window.  

(US article) Store credit cards generate corporate profits and disgruntled workers The Conversation: Most of the workers that we interviewed said if they don’t sell enough credit cards they may find themselves off the work schedule and without a job.

Cost of living

Energy prices:

• Energy chiefs fear 40% of Britons could fall into fuel poverty in ‘truly horrific winter’ Guardian: Firms inundated with calls from customers as bosses fear impact of October’s scheduled cap rise
• Kwasi Kwarteng warns Ofgem as energy suppliers overcharge Times (paywall): Kwarteng’s department is understood to have proposed doubling the energy rebate due to be handed to 28 million households in October from £200 to £400. Officials are also said to be looking at doubling the warm homes discount to £300, which is provided to three million vulnerable households.

More than half of disabled people ‘depressed or hopeless’ about finances Independent: Charity Leonard Cheshire warned the pressure on disabled people’s budgets will be “seismic” as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

‘Can that be legal?’ UK tenants forced from their homes by soaring rents Guardian: Private renters already struggling with food and fuel prices are being hit hard as landlords raise prices in London and nationwide

The £150 cost of living council tax rebate Citizens Advice blog: summary of the rules, intended for debt advisers

Cutting back:

• Retail sales fall as rising cost of living bites BBC: “Online sales were hit particularly hard due to lower levels of discretionary spending. Fuel sales also fell substantially, with evidence suggesting some people reduced non-essential journeys, following record high petrol prices, while food sales continued to fall, dropping for the fifth consecutive month.”
• 4.2 million households could halve broadband bills with discounted packages  Which? Ofcom calls on providers to make social tariffs more transparent, as low awareness prevents take-up
• Households cancel streaming services to cut costs BBC:  A total of 1.51 million services were canned in the first three months of 2022, market research firm Kantar said. It said more than half a million cancellations were attributed to “money saving”.

Benefits & other news

Christmas savings clubs money to be protected by new laws BBC: “We’ll make sure scandals like Farepak never happen again, where thousands of families, many on low incomes, lost all they had saved for Christmas.” My comment – good idea, but thy has this taken 16 years?

Why DWP Should Think Again About Dropping Amber Rudd’s Commitments On UC Managed Migration Z2K: “…the thorny question of how a cohort of 1.7 million people, most of whom are disabled people in receipt of ESA and have very different levels of aptitude for a digital-based system can be migrated across to UC without adverse interruptions to their income…”

DWP ordered to change by human rights watchdog after benefit claimants’ suicides Mirror: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has ordered the DWP to draw up a legally-binding action plan to address its treatment of disabled and mentally ill benefit claimants

I’m forced to sleep on a bare floor and can’t even take my shoes off inside due to council house rule Sun: End Furniture Poverty, a campaign group which is urging social landlords to rethink the policy of stripping carpets, said flooring was an “essential item”.

Funeral plan provider Safe Hands has gone into administration – what to do now if you have a prepaid plan with Safe Hands or others MSE: Stop paying them & how to make a claim as a creditor.

 

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News round-ups are published every Sunday.