Income and outgoings set to cause consumers problems
September 22, 2008
The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has recently highlighted how below inflation wage rises coupled with soaring food, petrol, and living costs are set to cause many households severe problems over the foreseeable future. Mr King warned households in a recent speech to brace themselves for some of the most challenging times that many may have yet faced in terms of their finances, with outgoings set to far outweigh income levels in the current economic climate. Read more
Landlords falling into serious arrears
September 4, 2008
According to a recent report a rising number of landlords are falling into serious arrears with their buy to let mortgages, with the number of landlords now three months behind with their repayments rising to over ten thousand. Since the onset of the global credit crunch borrowing costs have gone up, availability of mortgage products has come down, and credit conditions have become far more difficult, and this has hit lenders, homeowners, buyers, and now landlords. Read more
Debt management firms may be able to write off debt
June 2, 2008
As most people are aware the level of personal debt amongst consumers in the UK is very high, and with borrowing costs rising, the cost of living on the up, and increases in a range of bills, many households have found themselves facing severe financial strains over recent months. As a result of this an increasing number of consumers are looking for ways to try and ease their financial problems, and those with a high level of debt have found themselves having to look at various solutions in order to be able to stay afloat financially. Read more
Don’t look upon insolvency or equity as an excuse to get into debt
May 26, 2008
A recent report from the Personal Finance Research Centre has suggested that many people in the UK may be looking upon equity or insolvency opportunities as an excuse to get into high levels of debt, as they think that they can easily get themselves out of financial problems by bailing out using either the equity from their homes or through declaring themselves insolvent. Read more
Drop in insolvency numbers
April 11, 2008
A recent report has shown that the number of people that are being declared insolvent in the UK has fallen across England and Wales. The third quarter of the year saw a drop of 3% on the previous quarter in terms of personal insolvencies. The third quarter of the year also saw a drop of 5% in the level of personal insolvencies compared to the third quarter of last year. Read more
Debt advisors prepare for increased enquiries
March 11, 2008
With thousands of homeowners in the UK due to come off fixed rate mortgage deals in the coming months, debt advisors are preparing themselves for a massive influx in enquiries, as consumers see their mortgage repayments rocket and try to keep on top of their finances. Those affected are homeowners that took out fixed rate deals in 2004 and 2005 for a two or three year period. Many enjoyed a low fixed rate of just 4.24% but with their fixed rate period coming to an end will now see their interest rate shoot up to the lender’s standard variable rate. Read more
UK sees rising repossession levels
February 24, 2008
According to recent reports the UK continues to see rising repossession levels after millions of homeowners with variable rate mortgages were left struggling to repay their mortgage following a series of interest rate rises over the past year. The base rate has gone up five times since last August, and has resulted in the base rate shooting up from 4.5% to 5.75% after five rises of 0.25% each. For homeowners with variable rate mortgage this has meant a massive overall rise in repayments. Read more
Avoid getting into too much debt if you are a student
January 30, 2008
Experts are warning today’s students to make sure that they do not get themselves into too much debt, and to keep the long term effects of debt in mind when taking on finance whilst at college or university. Being a full time student can be difficult in terms of finances, and many students end up getting into high levels of debt whilst at college or university, which can make life difficult when they leave education and go out into the ‘real’ world. Experts are therefore urging students to be careful about getting into debt for frivolous reasons. Read more
Lenders may be able to flag up struggling borrowers more easily
January 27, 2008
Bad debt levels in the UK have caused huge problems for lenders and finance companies over recent years, and lenders have been increasing stringency and looking for new and inventive ways to not only recoup the losses from these bad debts but also to avoid taking too high a risk when it comes to offering finance. In the past this has proven difficult for many lenders, and they have fallen victim to bad debt despite running credit checks and credit scoring on potential borrowers. Read more
Is the insolvency road about to get busier?
January 19, 2008
Over recent years more and more people have been turning to insolvency in order to escape mounting debt that they can never hope to repay. The past couple of years has seen an increase in the number of glossy advertisements relating to IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) and this has raised awareness amongst consumers with regards to this possible course of action. Read more
Avoid insolvency in 2008
January 18, 2008
It is at this time of year that many people suddenly realise just what a mess their finances are in, having spent far more than they could actually afford to over the Christmas and New Year period, and having suddenly realised that they are in huge levels of debt that they cannot possible hope to pay back. Read more
Bankruptcies could be fuelled by Christmas spending
January 17, 2008
Many consumers in the UK are still taking stock of the amount of money that they have spent over the Christmas period, and industry officials are now concerned that the level of overspending by some consumers could now lead to a rise in bankruptcies. Many officials have expressed concern that the first part of this year will see bankruptcy levels rocket, and many people are expected to declare themselves insolvent as a direct result of overspending over the Christmas period. Read more
Bankruptcy hell during first few months of the year
January 15, 2008
Some experts have stated that the frivolous spending that many consumers indulged in over the Christmas months will now result in bankruptcy hell over the first few months of this year, with the first three months seeing the level of bankruptcies fuelled by over the top Christmas spending. Read more