‘Debt’ News
Debt Issues Mean ‘2.6m Will Switch Credit Cards’
Posted 2008-01-13
2008 is expected to be a busy year for credit card holders and companies with 2.6 million Brits planning to switch plastic provider. However, about 6.6 million will be sticking with their current cards, paying an average of 16.82 per...
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6m Bills Go Unpaid
Posted 2008-01-9
More than six million household bills went unpaid last year as budgets became tighter, research says. Of all bills, people mainly overlooked council tax in the second half of 2007, with 2.3 million people either failing to pay or paying...
Predictions of More Personal Insolvencies ‘Are Right’
Posted 2008-01-6
Advice service experts are agreeing with well-publicised estimates of an increase in personal insolvencies this year. James Falla, director of advice service Thomas Charles, says talk of an increase in the number of people declaring themselves insolvent is likely to prove true through 2008. Mr Falla said “everyone’s talking” about rising debt levels, and cited KPMG research predicting a 30 per cent rise in the number of personal insolvencies in 2008. However, he also added personal insolvency can be either bankruptcy, individual voluntary arrangements (IVA) or informal debt management plans. The director also says that while bankruptcy and IVAs can be measured, there is no way to assess how many debt management plans are undertaken in any given 12 months. Price comparison sites like uSwitch.com have suggested debt consolidation loans as one option for those looking to repay debts this year. ...
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Credit Crunch ‘has not harmed self-cert sector’
Posted 2008-01-4
The availability of self-cert mortgages has not been hit by the credit crunch, a leading broker says. Andy Pratt, spokesman for Alexander Hall, said the self-cert mortgage market remains essentially unchanged, despite reports of tighter lending conditions. This effect has mainly been seen in the subprime industry, Mr Pratt says, with nonconforming lenders hit the hardest by turbulence in the financial markets. Mainstream lenders have remained largely unaffected, however, with the spokesman adding borrowers with good credit records should face little to no difficulty in getting a loan. He said: “All those clients who would have got a self-cert mortgage before have been able to get them even with the credit crunch.” Thirteen per cent of the 29million people employed in Britain are self-employed and therefore eligible for a self-cert mortgage, says the Economic and Social Research Council. ...
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Overspending Bursts Credit Bubble
Posted 2008-01-3
A quarter of 16 to 44-year olds are scared about their bills arriving in the New Year, according to a study by uSwitch. The survey, backed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) also revealed over half of people had no...
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Christmas Spending ‘Could Cause Record Bankruptcies’
Posted 2008-01-2
Huge spending over Christmas could leave 130,000 people facing bankruptcy this year, say accountants KPMG. Higher mortgage payments and big credit card bills are also thought to be causing the predicted total, which stood at just below 110,000 in...