The number of people declared insolvent in 2011 in England and Wales declined to 119,850, the lowest level for three years and a fall of 11.3 per cent from a record high in 2010. There was a sharp decline at the end of 2011, when personal insolvencies fell by 5.6% compared with the last three [...]
Economic uncertainty and the threat of another recession is causing consumers to take charge of their finances and cut back on debt according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. Personal debt, excluding mortgages, fell by £377 million in December, the biggest fall since records began. Howard Archer an economist at Global Insight [...]
The rising cost of essentials such as fuel and food has contributed to a 48 per cent increase in the level of personal debt, according to the latest Aviva Family Finances Report. The average British family now owes around £7,944 in unsecured borrowing, compared with £5,360 a year ago, despite a 7 per cent increase [...]
Nearly one third of adults in the UK expect to spend less in 2012 compared with around a fifth in October, according to the Resolution Foundation, an independent research and policy organisation which aims to improve outcomes for people on limited income. The survey, which was carried out by Ipsos Mori on behalf of the [...]
National money education charity Credit Action today revealed that one person is declared insolvent or bankrupt every 60 seconds during the working week. Based on statistics gathered in the third quarter of 2011, the charity estimates that 331 people are made insolvent or bankrupt every working day and 101 properties are repossessed every day. The [...]
The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) today warned that families with children will be worst affected by the Government’s proposed changes to tax and benefits. A study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on behalf of the FPI suggests that the average income of families with children will fall by 4.2 per cent by 2015-16, [...]
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is increasing its scrutiny of payday loan companies after the number of complaints about them soared. In a report to the Government, the OFT revealed that the number of complaints received by helpline Consumer Direct about payday loan companies more than doubled to 1,535 in the 11 months to [...]
Although stores have been forced to start their sales early this year to persuade shoppers to part with their money, nearly a third of people in the UK will go into debt over Christmas. Fifty-eight percent of this group will put more spending than usual on credit cards and thirty-nine per cent will go overdrawn [...]
High levels of interest on payday loans are helping to create ‘Zombie’ debtors – people who can only afford to pay the interest on their debts each month and not the debts themselves. Based on a study of 2,000 adults, insolvency trade body R3 suggests that around 45 per cent of the population struggle to [...]
Around half of the 6.4 million unpaid carers in the UK are suffering ill-health because of money worries according to Carers UK. A survey of 4250 unpaid carers found that 40 per cent of respondents had fallen into debt because of their caring responsibilities, and 86 per cent of carers in debt suffered mental health [...]
The economic crisis is making consumers wary of taking on more debt, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. The amount of consumer credit totalled £0.9 billion in October, the same as for the previous month, and only slightly higher than the six month average of £0.8 billion, suggesting that pressure on [...]
The Government’s failure to act against legal loan sharks yesterday has angered pressure groups. As part of its review on consumer credit, the Government announced a voluntary deal for High Street stores to stop offering discounts to tempt customers to sign up for store cards. However, it failed to cap the interest rate charged on [...]
Although people who have been made bankrupt are legally allowed to hold a bank account, in practice most banks refuse to allow an undischarged bankrupt to open one. This reluctance is because of the risk that a trustee could pursue the bank for loss of money following a bankruptcy. However, the lack of a back [...]
Insurance company Aviva has revealed that over half of UK families have unsecured debts amounting to half their annual income. With food, transport and energy costs soaring, fifty-two per cent of UK families owe £10,604 on average, on loans, credit cards, overdrafts and other unsecured debts. This represents nearly half the annual household income of [...]
With an increasing number of people in debt to their electricity and gas providers, Consumer Focus and Citizens Advice have launched a ‘Plug the Debt’ campaign. A total of 1.5 million people are believed to be in debt in the UK and figures for spring this year show a 25 per cent increase in the [...]
Shelter Cymru has won a £250,000 lottery grant to fund a three-year project to offer debt advice to people in Wales. The Wrexham-based service is expected to help around 200 households a year, in an area where there are high levels of personal debt. The project is expected to open in autumn, providing a range [...]
According to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Government welfare changes will mean there will be 3.1 million children in poverty in the UK by 2013. Typical families will see their annual income fall by around £2,000 by the year 2013, warned the IFS, pushing 600,000 more children into poverty. The independent [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK unemployment rose sharply in the three months to August – rising to a 17-year high. The ONS said unemployment rose by 114,000 in the three month period to 2.57 million, taking the unemployment rate to 8.1% - higher than forecasts. In comparison, unemployment in the [...]
Bank of England Governor, Mervyn King, believes Britain is in the midst of the “most serious financial crisis ever”. The Governor was speaking after the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%. Interest rates have now been at this low level since [...]
The price of spot gold fell further today – to a 2½-month low of $1,624 – after reaching a record high of $1,920.94 a troy ounce earlier this month. This represents the sharpest drop since March 2009 – in the aftermath of the collapse of US bank, Lehman Brothers. Gold is now down 9% from [...]
Government to crack down on hidden credit card charges
Tougher rules are to be brought in to protect consumers from hidden credit card charges and premium-rate phone calls to customer service departments. The Government has launched a consultation on how to implement the changes, which are required under a European Consumer Rights Directive and will apply to countries across the European Union. The new [...]
Which? report claims free banking is a myth
A new report by consumer group Which? highlights the high charges that can be applied to ‘free’ current accounts. While these accounts are free while in credit, charges can be applied if a customer goes overdrawn, especially if they do so without permission. Customers can also be charged for overseas transactions and for agreed overdrafts. [...]
Households more optimistic about their finances
Household finances are still deteriorating, but at a slower rate, according to the Markit household finance index. The index increased from 37.5 in July to 38.9 in August, with figures above 50 representing a positive change in household finances, and figures below 50 representing a negative change. The August figure represents the third consecutive monthly [...]
Think tank calls for council housing sell off
The Policy Exchange, a leading UK think tank, is calling for expensive social housing to be sold as it becomes vacant. This could raise £4.5 billion a year and the money could be used to create the largest social house building programme since the 1970s, the think tank suggests in a new report. Between 80,000 [...]
Barclays appoints new chairman
Barclays has announced the appointment of Sir David Walker as its new chairman. He will take over from Marcus Agius who resigned from the role after Barclays was fined £290 million by regulators in the UK and US for manipulating Libor, the interbank lending rate. The appointment of Sir David, a respected and experienced banker, [...]
Post Office stepping up mortgage offering
The Post Office is expanding its mortgage service with the introduction of mortgage specialists in its branches. Mortgages have been available from the Post Office since 2009, but applications have had to be made online or over the phone. It currently offers mortgage with deposits as low as 10 per cent and plans to enhance [...]
Help Loan closed after breaching money-laundering rules
Payday Loan company MCO Capital has been closed down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and fined £544,000 after failing to check the identity of its borrowers. The firm, which traded as Help Loan, was targeted by criminals and cheated of more than £1.5m by the fraudsters due to its negligence. The criminals stole [...]
Health insurance becoming unaffordable warns Bupa
The rising cost of private healthcare is pushing health insurance in the UK up to unaffordable levels, according to international healthcare group Bupa. A lack of competition among private hospitals has led to the cost of treatment rising, and the insurer says that this could lead to health insurance becoming unaffordable. An increase in the [...]
Bank of England forecasts zero economic growth
The Bank of England does not expect the UK economy to grow at all this year according to its latest quarterly report. It had previously forecast growth of 2 per cent for 2012 but recent gloomy economic data has led to the growth forecast being revised downwards. The forecast for medium-term growth has also been [...]
Standard Chartered in money-laundering scandal
Standard Chartered has become the latest UK bank to be accused of illegal activity. It has been accused by the New York department of financial services of hiding $250 billion worth of illegal transactions with Iranian banks between 2001 and 2010. The US regulator claims that the bank, which has wholesale banking, corporate finance and [...]
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