Ombudsman complaints: Guarantor loans replace PPI

Thousands of Britons are complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service about being mis-sold unaffordable guarantor loans, new figures reveal, as Payment Protection Insurance was finally dethroned as the most complained about financial product. Complaints about PPI numbered 6,679, meaning it was not the most complained about product in a three-month period for the first time … Read more

Buy now pay later schemes are fastest-growing online payment method

Surge in internet credit buys: Buy now pay later deals were fastest-growing online payment method last year By Ben Wilkinson for the Daily Mail Published: 22:01 GMT, 23 February 2021 | Updated: 22:01 GMT, 23 February 2021 Credit boom: Buy now, pay later schemes  are predicted to account for 10 per cent of UK online spending … Read more

Can credit unions really solve Britain’s high cost credit shortage?

A company which began life in 1985 as a way for serving police officers to pool their Christmas savings might not sound like the ideal recipient a £200,000 prize aimed at developing a new generation of fintech lenders. Yet that is exactly what happened to Police Credit Union last March. The member owned co-operative, which … Read more

The internet debt sharks preying on the financial victims of Covid

Desperately worried about debt, you go online to find help. Only you are not signposted to the charities who offer free advice. Instead, you are bombarded with adverts and websites set up by insidious imposters looking to make money from your misery. They say they can write off almost all your debt in a few … Read more

Buy now, pay later: Don’t let shoppers sign up by default, MPs say

Britain’s biggest retailers should take buy now, pay later services off their websites and prevent shoppers from signing up for debt financing at the checkout by default, MPs have said, after the £2.7billion industry was found to pose ‘significant’ potential harm to shoppers. A review into the booming sector published earlier in the week found … Read more

Best credit cards deals for purchases, holidays and clearing debts

Britain’s transition into a nation of accidental savers last year certainly had an impact on its credit card bill. Those with extra disposable income and nowhere to spend it as a result of the lockdown opted to pay down their debts and fatten their bank balances, where once the nation eschewed a savings habit. Britain … Read more

IVA market is broken says the FCA: Here’s why

Millions of Britons in need of debt advice due to the coronavirus pandemic could be pushed into unsuitable debt solutions by companies seeking to profit from commission, regulators have warned. Britain’s ‘individual voluntary arrangement market is broken’, the Financial Conduct Authority said in a 68-page review into the state of Britain’s credit and debt landscape … Read more

Buy now pay later regulations: What will they mean for consumers?

Borrowers of Britain’s booming £2.7billion ‘buy now, pay later’ industry will soon be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service after it was announced lenders would be regulated under new government plans. It comes as regulators warn there was an ‘urgent need’ to protect shoppers from ‘a number of potential harms’, including the possibility … Read more

21m people may take out loan this year once lockdown ends

Economy may be precarious, tax rises could be near and unemployment is increasing, but 21m people are considering taking out a loan this year once lockdown ends By Jeff Prestridge, Financial Mail on Sunday Published: 21:50 GMT, 30 January 2021 | Updated: 09:58 GMT, 31 January 2021 The economy may be hovering on the edge … Read more

Advertising regulator bans ‘misleading’ debt adverts from impersonators

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned the adverts of two unregulated lead generators after they were found to have mimicked legitimate debt charities and claimed to be endorsed by the Government. The websites ‘writeoffmydebt’ and ‘stepdebtsupport’ were criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority after a series of complaints by the Government-funded Money and Pensions Service, … Read more