Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) are arrangements that allow friends to save together and withdraw lump sums from the scheme. ROSCAs are unregulated, relying on trust. The Money Advice Service says "those who use [ROSCAs] say they encourage savings and allow people without bank accounts access to credit." They have different names around the world, including tanda in South … [Read more...]
10 things you should know if you can’t pay a tax bill
UPDATE - in 2020 if you can't pay a tax bill because of Coronavirus, there is additional help from HMRC. You can: delay VAT payments due before 30 June 2020 until 31 March 2021 delay your Self Assessment payment on account due in July 2020 until 31 January 2021 Contact the HMRC coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline if you cannot pay any other tax bills because of … [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...]
“Why I had to go bankrupt & how it went”
Everyone’s bankruptcy case is different. Here is L’s story. Few people will have the combination of a high income and high health costs that she had. But many will recognise the problem of consolidation loans not resolving their debt difficulties and have L's worries about bankruptcy. After years of struggling with debts and a chronic health condition, I applied for bankruptcy early in … [Read more...]
Holding Money & Debt up to the Light: the Case for Transparency in 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...]
Credit card minimum payments – developments from 2000 to 2019
This is a guest post from The Money Charity, the UK's financial capability charity. If you would like to receive its monthly statistical report The Money Statistics, sign up here. This paper was written as background research for The Money Charity’s responses to the Financial Conduct Authority consultations on the short term credit market. As a reference document it may be of interest to … [Read more...]
IVAs can be a good debt solution for the self-employed
This is a guest post by Nick Payne, a Chartered Accountant and Insolvency Practitioner who works for Payplan. Nick has over 20 years experience in Personal Insolvency. If you’re self-employed or own a small company and are struggling to pay your debts, you’re not alone. Recent research has shown that: those who are self-employed are more likely to have unmanageable debts than employed … [Read more...]
Re-thinking Insolvency Practitioner Regulation
This is a guest post by Peter Sargent, an Insolvency Practitioner and Consultant at BHP Clough Corporate Solutions. He is a member of the IPA’s Membership & Authorisation Committee and former president of R3. The failure of Varden Nuttall (and its holding company), a middle ground IVA bulk provider has brought into sharp relief the current system of Insolvency Practitioner (IP) … [Read more...]
“I borrowed 20k in two weeks” – a bipolar spending spree
Manic spending, during a high or period of mania, is one of the six triggers for increased spending identified in the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute's latest report, In Control: A consultation on regulating spending during periods of poor mental health, published last week. I have been contacted by a reader who has suffered from bipolar disorder for many years - this is Miss D's … [Read more...]
FCA and commercial debt management – the saga continues
This is a guest post by Nick Pearson, CEO of The Debt Counsellors Charitable Trust, who is writing in a personal capacity. The overwhelming majority of commercial Debt Management (DM) firms were required to submit their applications for full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorisation by the end of December 2014. To date, as far as I'm aware, no firm has yet received full … [Read more...]