In the last two months of 2019, Britain's largest payday lender, QuickQuid, went into administration followed by three smaller lenders: 247 Moneybox, PiggyBank and Swift Sterling. Have the lessons from Wonga's collapse last year been leaned? And how can regulators and debt advisers do better in future to protect borrowers, not just of payday loans but other sorts of high cost credit as … [Read more...]
Articles for debt advisers
Holding Money & Debt up to the Light: Transparency and the Standard Financial Statement
This is a guest post by Dr Joseph Spooner, Assistant Professor of Insolvency Law at the LSE and the author of Bankruptcy – the Case for Relief in an Economy of Debt. He had previously worked at the Law Reform Commission of Ireland, where his papers influenced the enactment of the Irish Personal Insolvency Act 2012. Systems for addressing difficulties of over-indebted households in England … [Read more...]
Guarantor loans – why guarantors & borrowers need extra protection
Guarantor loans are coming into the regulatory spotlight. The FCA wrote to CEOs in March 2019 saying it will be looking at affordability and whether potential guarantors have enough information to understand how likely it is that they may have to make the loan payments. In a speech, Jonathan Davis said: Recent work we have done in this area showed that many guarantors are making at least 1 … [Read more...]
Debt advice in 2018 – my round up of the year
At the end of 2017 I wrote: Persistent credit card debt and overdraft charges tackled, bailiffs brought under control, SFS being used by all creditors, and a breathing space that will actually work in practice – that would be a good 2018. That would have been an amazing 2018 - I would have been happy with just a couple of those. But it is disappointing that none of them were achieved this … [Read more...]
2018 – Ombudsman decides it can look at payday loans over 6 years old
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) has published in September 2018 two Decisions involving payday loans over six years old: Mr H has complained about fifty-four payday loans Lender C lent to him between March 2010 and September 2014. Mrs W’s complaint is about nine short-term loans from Lender D between November 2009 and July 2012. In both cases FOS has decided that its rules do allow it to … [Read more...]
2017 – a bad year for debt advisers and our clients
Very little has happened in 2017 that is good for the free debt advice sector: for the agencies, the advisors or - most importantly - our clients. This article is for front-line debt advisers across the country, because someone needs to say just how bad things are out there at the moment. I hope it will also be read by all the regulators, quasi-regulators, government departments and creditors … [Read more...]
Why debt advisers should take the IMA’s Certificate of Money Advice Practice
The Institute of Money Adviser's Certificate of Money Advice Practice (CertMAP) is a qualification for people who are already working or volunteering as money advisers. You need to have a year's full-time experience or two years part-time. The course is provided by the IMA jointly with Staffordshire University. About 1,300 people have attained the CertMAP qualification, which is accredited by the … [Read more...]
Why the FCA should ban the Compass debt advice model
In March 2016, the clients of Compass Debt Counsellors found out their debt management firm had gone into administration. Many people had thousands of pounds being held by Compass and may not get this money back. In This Compass points to Debt Misery, Legal Beagles points out: "This form of daylight robbery is hugely rewarding because no one ever seems to go to prison for such crime. If I … [Read more...]
IVAs – do you have to get a secured loan – a case story
A reader asked this in a comment, but it needs a whole article to tell the story properly: "We are currently 4.5 years into an IVA, we have got to raise £15,000 through remortgage. We have been told from the start to not worry as there is little to no chance of us being offered it, however we have been offered a £15,000 loan over 15 years and paying back £45,000. I can’t believe this is an … [Read more...]
Pension changes – the challenge for debt advice
This is a guest post by Nick Lord. It argues that the new pension rules are a game-changer for debt advisers and that debt advice agencies need to put measures in place to ensure that their advisers can provide best advice post April 2015. Nick is a consultant on money advice and personal finance issues working with Government departments, regulators and firms. Debt Advice and the Proposed … [Read more...]