Debt News

Those in Debt Targeted by Scam Artists

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 41 weeks 2 days
The worry which debt brings can and frequently does cause people to make decisions they otherwise would not entertain in a million years. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has highlighted the vulnerability of those suffering from debt concerns and that this section of the population is now even more of a target for online and internet scams than their 2008 preferred group – the elderly.

Unique insight into emotional impact of personal debt in the UK

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 6 weeks
We're really pleased to announce the latest results of our research into the emotional impact of debt in the UK. It gives you chance to see how you compare and comment on what you think of our findings. Research findings are as follows:

Is Bankruptcy Really As Bad As It Sounds?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 44 weeks 3 days
The word “bankruptcy” strikes fear into the hearts and minds of many people, particularly the older generations for whom it was very closely associated with personal failure, shame and the very real loss of all of your assets including your home and even your car.

Credit Card Control: An American Perspective

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 44 weeks 2 days
America is run on credit and with an $800 billion stimulus package being implemented; President Obama’s administration is also taking action to make sure the fix has a degree of permanence attached to it.  It has been a bad week in many respects for the US economy with the announcement of one of America’s largest car makers, Chrysler, filing for bankruptcy and the announcement

Commercial Court, London Scuppers Get Debt-Free Quick Schemes

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 40 weeks 5 days
The Courts in London recently ruled on use of unfair provisions in the Consumer Credit Act which has been promoted by innumerable debt agencies charging enormous up-front fees for a debt solution.

YouGov Survey Results: 700,000 Hidden insolvencies

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 39 weeks 1 day
The latest figures from YouGov demonstrate that over 700,000 people who are technically insolvent are currently being left off the official insolvency figures even though they are technically insolvent. The reality of debt for Britons is over 1 million are insolvent in the UK – a number which testifies to the prevalence of debt issues confronting so many people today.

Bankruptcies Soar and Half are Homeowners

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 44 weeks 5 days
Latest figures released by the Insolvency Service show bankruptcies are soaring with an increase of 19% compared to the same period last year; most of the increase has been created by homeowners prompting calls for longer term loans to reduce payments.

Advice from the Insolvency Service

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 44 weeks 1 day
Insolvency and bankruptcy are words which many people are frightened of; they see bankruptcy as a shameful thing to happen and so deny themselves the relief from unrealistic debt levels and repayments which the law provides for and many options exist before bankruptcy should be considered. Here is what the Insolvency Service has to say, taken from their own website:

Take Up Of New Debt Relief Orders Disappoints

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 38 weeks 3 days
Overworked Insolvency Practitioners have reported that there is a low take-up of the new Debt Relief Orders (DRO) which came into force in April this year. The problem may be that DRO’s only apply to a tiny percentage of debtors – principally those with no income and no assets to work with.

Credit Record Affecting Employment?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 36 weeks 4 days
A recent question asked on the forum was whether a County Court Judgment (CCJ) would harm the candidate’s chances of becoming a police officer. It is a question many people ask who are working in a variety of professions for both the public and private sectors.

Know the Symptoms of Financial Stress

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 44 weeks 3 days
Britain is hurting and there is no denying it; if you can’t see all the green shoots of recovery many pundits are talking about it is probably for a simple reason – they are not there!

US bankruptcies expected to top a million a year

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 18 weeks
U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings increased 40 percent nationwide in October, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.

Mortgage deposits up to 20%

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 18 weeks
Buyers lucky enough to secure a mortgage today will still be expected to put up a deposit of 20%, according to BBC programme tonight on the Credit Crunch.

Repossession – Well done RBS!

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 14 weeks
RBS has announced that it will guarantee not to repossess homes of customers who are in arrears for at least 6 months. The RBS account for 7% of the UK mortgage market, which leaves the other 93%, but let’s not dwell on the negative, this is a great start.

Charity mawls credit card applicants with poor history

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 17 weeks
The World WildLife Fund which uses its own credit card advertising cuddly pictures of endangered animals like pandas and polar bears to raise money is fleecing people with poor credit histories by offering them an alternative card with an APR rate of a whopping 39.9%.

Credit Card Interest Rates at Record Peak

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 39 weeks 3 days
The Bank of England may have frozen interest rates at 0.5% but someone must have forgotten to tell the credit card companies because their rates are at an all-time record high of around 18%!

Individual Insolvencies (Bankruptcies & IVA’s) Up 8.8%

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 18 weeks
There were a massive 27,087 people either becoming Bankrupt or having an IVA agreed by their creditors during the third quarter of 2008. This is a massive increase of 8.8% on the previous quarter.

Is a 2.5% fall in VAT really going to help you?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 15 weeks
In January 2008 the Office for National Statistics published what they believe the average household expenditure figures were. The figure they came up with was £456 per week.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 16 weeks
M & S is doing a one day sale where they will reduce prices by 20% and some stores staying open to midnight. If you’re looking for a bargain then go online at 12.01am and you’ll get the same level of discount. Debenhams has started a 3 day sale with similar levels of discounting from today and others will certainly follow.

CAB swamped with credit inquiries

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 17 weeks
Experts at Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau are turning people away due to a flood of credit crunch inquiries.

Two missed payments and you could lose your home

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 1 year 17 weeks
A high court hearing last month rules reinforced a law that allows lenders to sell someone homes if they are in arrears by 2 months. This means that a lender can effectively sell a property without the need for a court order.

Insolvency service reports big rise in bankruptcies

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 45 weeks 1 day
In the first quarter of 2009, 29,774 people have become bankrupt or taken out an IVA. This is a 23% increase in bankruptcy and nearly a 12 % increase in IVA's.

Social Stigma Stopping People Getting Debt Help

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 29 weeks 4 days
With the economic crisis causing more and more people to fall into debt, these perceived social stigmas are causing a number of repercussions. The findings indicate that a quarter of people (23%) take over a year to deal with their financial troubles.

Bad Credit Credit Card Debt Rises

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 29 weeks 3 days
It won't be a surprise to hear that credit card companies are noticing the fallout from giving consumers too much credit. The latest research from KPMG said there is a rising trend in defaults on unsecured loans such as credit cards.

79% of people in debt will not borrow again - is this good or bad?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 9 weeks 2 hours
Our research has had hundreds of respondents over the course of the year. A statistic that has not suprised me but worried me is that 79% of people in debt are put off borrowing again.

Having trouble covering your monthly mortgage payments? You are not alone.

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 7 weeks 1 day
Millions of Britons are struggling to meet their mortgage or rent commitments, and many of them are resorting to extreme measures to keep on top of their payments. In fact, more than one million cash-strapped householders have used credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the last 12 months, according to research from homelessness charity Shelter.

1000 people a day contacting the CAB

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 9 weeks 2 days
Money website Claims Financial reported that the 'Citizens' Advice Bureau is dealing with 9,300 new cases a day from individuals seeking help with 1000 people attempting to make debt consolidation arrangements each day.'

68% having work affected by debt - here is a plan to get back on track

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 9 weeks 7 hours
A survey has been running on our homepage for nearly a year now and some of the results are worrying. For example, 68% of respondents said that their work is being affected by debt.

What will it take to stop consumers’ annual descent into Christmas debt?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 9 weeks 3 days
Will we ever stop spending money we don’t have? You might think that the long and dismal recession would have put a dampener on our need to splurge. But the latest retail analysis figures show that the Boxing Day sales attracted the highest number of shoppers since records began.