Daily Debt Advice by Abacus Finance

‘Scary’ debt statistics released

Peter Kelly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:04:10 +0000

Debt statistics for November have been released by financial charity Credit Action, revealing that repossessions occur every 11.5 minutes. Furthermore, it was shown that while the average household debt - including mortgages - stands at £58,340, one person every 3.97 minutes declares themselves bankrupt or insolvent. In addition, 2,553 people are made redundant every day, suggesting that [...]

Unemployed helped by SMEs, survey shows

Peter Kelly — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:24:28 +0000

Unemployed people are to be thrown a lifeline by small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK, many of which have admitted plans to create jobs over the next few months. This is according to a survey conducted by the Santander Banking Group, which revealed that 17 per cent of SMEs intend to increase their employee [...]

Debtors taking on extra work, report shows

Peter Kelly — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:24:12 +0000

Britons are turning to moonlighting as a way to supplement income from their full-time employment, it has been revealed. According to a study conducted by Hirescores.co.uk - a UK-based recruitment agency review website - 46 per cent of respondents admitted to earning money outside their day jobs. And one-third of those asked stated that they were compelled [...]

Debt management ‘a good new year’s resolution’

Peter Kelly — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:41:55 +0000

Managing finances and debt has been recommended as a good option for those looking to make a new year’s resolution for 2010. Directgov offered eight ideas for consumers to consider heading into the next decade and placed money management first, encouraging people to kick off the 12-month period by sorting out their personal balance sheets. It indicated [...]

Borrowers ‘to get greater protection’

Peter Kelly — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:46:07 +0000

Consumers will be better protected when taking out loans or other forms of credit as a result of the new Lending Code, it has been claimed. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) indicated this week that the rules, which are governed by the Lending Standards Board (LSB), will give greater assistance to borrowers, with the intntion of [...]

Debtors still rely on plastic, expert says

Peter Kelly — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:18:37 +0000

Britain’s debtors are still relying on cards as an easy way to access credit, an industry expert has said, something that he noted has been going on for several years. Director of national money education charity Credit Action Chris Tapp observed that many people use their credit cards to regulate their income, while others are forced [...]

46,000 debtors to be redressed by FSA so far

Peter Kelly — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:53:05 +0000

Proof of how the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) strengthened regulations of the mortgage industry can help those in debt has been revealed by the fining of GMAC-RFC, which was found to have treated customers unfairly in terms of arrears and repossessions. As a result of an investigation into the firm’s practices over a period of four [...]

Mortgage repayments should be top priority, expert says

Peter Kelly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:15:22 +0000

Debtors need to prioritise their mortgage repayments over other household expenses, an expert has suggested. Responding to recent LV= research that indicated people view burglaries to be a bigger threat than payment problems, editor of Your Mortgage Barney McCarthy stated that, although it is positive that people are "being security conscious", this should not come "at [...]

Personal loans are hard to get, expert says

Peter Kelly — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:40:46 +0000

The likelihood of many debtors being successful in their applications for personal loans is decreasing as creditors strengthen their lending criteria, an industry expert has observed. Michelle Slade of Moneyfacts.co.uk stated that it is only those borrowers "with blemish-free credit records" that are likely to be taken on as new customers, a result of prolonged increases [...]

Debt hierarchy confusing, expert says

Peter Kelly — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:43:55 +0000

Debtors have been left feeling angry and cheated by the way the repayments process is handled by creditors, according to new research. Findings from a study conducted by moneysupermarket.com have revealed that the majority of those with credit cards are unaware that most providers operate on a negative payment hierarchy basis, with the cheapest debt being [...]