On 31 July, the FCA's new Consumer Duty came into force, bringing in higher standards of consumer protection. You may not have heard of it, but financial services firms have been working for a couple of years to be ready for this. Delivering good outcomes for retail customers is the new 12th principle in the FCA's handbook and is described as the overarching principle. That sounds very … [Read more...]
Are you still paying fees on an old Gregory Pennington DMP?
For many years Gregory Pennington (GP), part of the Financial Wellness Group (FWG), has charged its clients monthly fees for running Debt Management Plans (DMPs) But MaPS awarded Gregory Pennington a contract that began on 1 February 2023. And it can't charge fees for DMPs under this contract. StepChange, Payplan and CAP have always provided "fee-free" DMPs, where all a client's payments go … [Read more...]
Klarna now allows people to “opt out” of future credit
On 24 May 2023, Klarna introduced a new feature that allows a customer to "opt out" of future credit. This covers Klarna Pay in 30, Pay in 3 and their longer-term Klarna Financing credit. Why is this needed? Many people find Klarna just too easy to use too often. Spreading payments with no interest being added sounds so sensible, but it still means that you have less money next month because … [Read more...]
What to do if a creditor won’t freeze interest
What can you do if a creditor is still adding interest when they have been asked to stop? This can happen if you ask for a payment arrangement. It also sometimes happens, but more rarely, in a Debt Management Plan (DMP). Most creditors do freeze interest if you have supplied a reasonable Income & Expenditure Statement. If you are in a DMP, your DMP firm will have sent the creditor … [Read more...]