On September 13th, the FCA wrote a "Dear CEO" letter to all consumer credit firms that it authorises saying that they had reviewed complaints handling at a range of firms and found material non-compliance and other concerning practices. The letter details these problems and ends by saying that the FCA expects firms to: review how your firm identifies, records, and deals with complaints as … [Read more...]
Find out what's new and what's changing in the debt world in Britain.
Vanquis’s Repayment Option Plan – can you get a refund?
Vanquis Bank's Repayment Option Plan (ROP) for its credit cards is being investigated by the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This was announced by Provident, who own Vanquis, on 22nd August 2017. If you currently have this, should you cancel it? And can you claim a refund? I'll look at what is known about this investigation and who may get compensation because of it. I also … [Read more...]
Provident – home credit crisis & FCA investigates Vanquis
On 22nd August, Provident Financial's share price dropped c 70% after a profits warning. For a FTSE 100 company such large price moves are extremely rare. The Daily Mail shrieked: Provident Financial goes into meltdown ... now 800,000 customers of its doorstep collection business are at risk. Provident's doorstep lending re-organisation Provident's doorstep loans used to be … [Read more...]
Lloyds overdrafts – new, simple charges are a cut for most borrowers
On July 17th Lloyds Bank announced major changes to the way it charges for overdrafts - a massive simplification. The new charging will be introduced in November for 20 million Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland accounts. Most customers will gain. This includes three million people in old style basic bank accounts - they are winners in the new system, a group that has been badly treated by … [Read more...]
Persistent credit card debt – lenders must do more to help
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing a definition of persistent credit card debt and a set of actions credit card lenders will have to take with people who are in persistent credit card debt for 18 months or more. Recent news highlights why the FCA is worried about credit card debt. In June 2017, £67billion is owed on credit cards in Britain and that is increasing at 9% per year. … [Read more...]
Huge increase in CCJs, up to 300,000 in first quarter 2017
Registry Trust has published the statistics for CCJs for the first quarter of 2017. They are shocking, with almost 300,000 consumer CCJs, the highest number for ten years. The details are: 298,901 CCJs were registered against consumers in England and Wales from January - March 2017; this is an increase of 35% on the same quarter in 2016; the average size of a CCJ fell to … [Read more...]
Should Creditfix use the promise of early exit loans to sell IVAs?
Mr D asked: I was contacted by company called Creditfix to clear my debts in an IVA. I have about £30,000 debt (two loans, some credit cards, overdraft) and the advisor calculated my options. I was told 2 and half years of paying £150 a month, then get a £4,500 loan to pay rest. Is that ok??? * I don't know if an IVA is a good option for Mr D. He needs to decide if he can commit to the IVA … [Read more...]
Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims now final
In March 2017 the Pre Action Protocol for Debt was at long finalised, it's here: Debt PAP. It comes into force on 1st October 2017. It has taken many years of negotiations, consultations and delays to get here. I've asked a couple of experts for their reaction to the news. Tim Lett, who has been involved for the last four years in getting this protocol agreed, writes: I am very … [Read more...]
Who were the biggest IVA firms in 2016?
Here is the League Table for IVA firms last year, showing all firms that registered more than 500 IVAs in 2016. The data comes from the Insolvency Service, it was supplied to Louise Yates. I previously published a half-year table for 2016 - this article replaces that one now the information for the full year is available. The previous statistics for 2015 were discussed here. The up/down … [Read more...]
News snippets about high cost credit
I thought it would be interesting to bring together recent news items about various types of high cost lending in Britain. I will be keeping this page updated. Payday loans Sept 2017 Cheque Centre goes into administration The firm once had more than 300 high street branches but last year closed its remaining outlets to focus on trading over the internet under the Square Today brand. Aug … [Read more...]
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