Industry News

Free School Meals Expanded to All Universal Credit Households

Consumer Borrowing Rises as Households Increase Use of Credit

Buy Now Pay Later Comes Under FCA Regulation

Water bills set to increase over the next 5 years

The water regulator, Ofwat, has released draft proposals for an increase in sector investment that will see average water bills rise by £19 per year over the next five years. The increase in spending is required to tackle pollution, improve water quality and deliver greater resilience to the impact of climate change according to the […]

What is a Debt Management Plan

A debt management plan (DMP) is an informal arrangement between yourself (the debtor) and the people you owe money to (the creditors). If you are unable to pay your debts as they fall due then an affordable repayment plan is negotiated with your creditors. The offer of repayment should be fair to both you and […]

Debt Relief Order criteria to change

In April, the Chancellor announced that the fee for entering a Debt Relief Order (DRO) was to be scrapped. The fee of £90 had in place since DROs came into force in April 2009. According to figures from the Insolvency Service, 3,436 people entered a DRO in April, the first month since the £90 fee […]

UK inflation in unexpected rise

Inflation unexpectedly increased to 10.4% in the year to February 2023 from 10.1% in January. Contributing to the rise in inflation was a UK wide fruit and vegetable shortage, pushing up food prices at the fastest rate in 45 years. Other costs, including alcohol and clothing also rose significantly last month whilst fuel prices continued […]

Bank of England base rate increases to 4.25%.

The Bank of England has raised the bank rate from 4% to 4.25%. The bank said that the increase, which the monetary policy committee voted in favour of by a majority of seven to two, is because “cost and price pressures have remained elevated”. The new rate, which is the highest level in 14 years, […]

FCA proposed ban on debt packagers

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial watchdog, has proposed a ban on debt packagers. Debt packagers are third-party marketers, which are paid a commission for referring customers to fee charging debt management firms. The commission can be substantial and has led to debt packagers steering clients towards potentially unsuitable debt solutions. The proposed […]