Average mortgage payments for new borrowers, including first time buyers and home movers, stood at 27% of disposable earnings in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Read the full article at telegraph.co.uk

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A survey by moneysupermarket.com has suggested that 38% of customers who use Direct Debit to manage their bills don't know exactly how much money is leaving their account each month.

Moreover, 7% say that the last time they checked their statement they noticed a Direct Debit that they had forgotten about.

This is a wide-reaching issue with moneysupermarket.com saying that 95% of current account holders utilise Direct Debits and that Brits use them to pay a collective £13.7 billion every month.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A report by Friends Life has found that 83% of people do not feel that enough is being done to educate people about financial matters.  63% said they wished they had received financial education in school and 65% thought that financial education should be provided in the workplace.

The study also found that 48% of people disagree with the suggestion that the nation's children will be more financially savvy than previous generations, while only one in five people agree.

Friends Life also suggest that a lack of financial awareness means that increasing numbers of school leavers and graduates have no idea where to go for advice on pensions - over 65% of 18-24 year olds did not know how to get this advice.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Consumers are expecting a tough 2012 as the reality of another year of price hikes, pay freezes and austerity measures bites deep, according to new research from uSwitch.com

The research highlighted:

• Less than half of Brits are feeling confident about the new year and what it holds for them
• Just 3% are feeling very confident
• Nearly four in ten people will be financially worse off next year
• 76% of consumers are worried about the rising cost of living, while 63% are concerned about household bills
• The main priorities for consumers in 2012 will be saving money and clearing debt

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

That's according to research by Legal & General who also found that 27% of parents do not think they will ever stop financially supporting their kids.  The research found that the majority of parents are relying on their own parents for financial support for their adult children, with 65% believing that contributions to their child's ISA will come direct from grandparents.

However, at the other end of the extreme, 10% of parents who do not believe they can afford to fund their children past 18, say it is simply not their responsibility to do so.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Which? the consumer watchdog found that anyone using an unauthorised overdraft would find it virtually impossible to calculate how much they would be charged or to compare charges between banks, due to the complicated fee structures.

It gave a group of customers a mock bank statement and asked them to work out the cost of an unauthorised overdraft at four different banks.  Despite one volunteer being a maths PhD student, none of them got all the calculations right.

Read the full article at telegraph.co.uk

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A survey by moneysupermarket.com has found that, of people who admit to feeling stressed on a daily basis, 23% say that their future financial situation is the main cause, while 21% blame their current personal finances.

Moneysupermarket.com say that these findings suggest that over 15 million Brits worry about their finances every single day.

An overwhelming 76% think their financial stresses will increase in 2012, with the majority of these blaming the rising cost of living as a key factor.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

As the cost of living continues to rise, pay freezes are leaving many Brits with a bleak outlook, according to new research from uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service, which reveals that less than three in ten workers are expecting a pay rise this year.  To make matters worse, 65% have suffered recent pay freezes - 15% haven't seen a pay rise for at least three years.

But even for the lucky few expecting a pay rise, there is likely to be little to celebrate with the average pay rise expected to be 2.1% - under half the rate of inflation.

Cash strapped consumers are also facing a 5.9% hike in rail fares and together with the impact of last year's 21% increase in energy bills, any pay rises may be swallowed up.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Outstanding personal debt stood at £1.451 trillion at the end of November 2011.  Individuals owed nearly as much as the entire country produced in the four quarters between Q4 2010 and Q3 2011.

The average amount owed per UK adult (including mortgages) was £29,543 in November 2011.  This was around 122% of average earnings.

The average outstanding mortgage for the 11.2 million households that carry mortgage debt stood at £110,608 in November.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

If you'd like to know our views on current debt issues, including student debt, the rise in people seeking debt solutions and what the toughest part of having a debt problem is, read our recent interview at iva123.co.uk

Read the interview at iva123.co.uk

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

UK base rate fell to a 315 year low when the official bank rate was reduced to 0.5% on the 5th of March 2009 and has been held at that level for 34 months in a row.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Every 4.21 minutes someone will be declared insolvent or bankrupt
• Every 14.17 minutes a property is repossessed
• 1,764 people were made redundant every day between August and October 2011
• Citizens Advice Bureaux deal with 8,652 new debt problems each working day
• The average household debt (including mortgages) is £55,816
• 868,000 people in the UK have been unemployed for 12 months or more
• £173,000,000 is the amount of personal interest paid in the UK on a daily basis

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Every taxpayer may be given online access to their tax records, the government has suggested.

The idea is part of a public consultation on making the personal tax system easier to use and understand.

Other ideas include supplying pre-filled tax returns to people in the self-assessment system using information from employers and banks.

All taxpayers may be sent an annual tax statement in addition to their normal P60 and PAYE tax code notice.

Read the full article at bbc.co.uk

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Research from uSwitch.com reveals stark differences in fuel poverty levels across the UK, with Wales and the east of England hit hardest of all.

Almost a third of households in Wales and the east of England are fuel poor while London was found to have the lowest level of fuel poverty in the UK with just 16% of households affected.  However, with huge anomalies in how wealth is distributed across the capital, some parts of London could be experiencing far higher levels of fuel poverty than the findings suggest.

Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com says:

"Rocketing energy prices mean that no area of the UK is safe from the clutches of fuel poverty.  The fuel poor can be found in all types of households and in all parts of the country, but some regions and households are clearly more vulnerable than others."

Source:  uSwitch.com

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A survey by Gocompare has revealed that getting a grip on our finances was the most popular New Year's Resolution for Brits in 2012, with 49% of those who planned to make a resolution putting this at the top of their list.

This put it ahead of getting fit (46%) and losing weight (45%), and this is the first time since 2008 that financial affairs have topped the list.

Looking specifically at financial related resolutions, 40% of those making resolutions committed to reducing outgoings, 35% resolved to pay off debt, 25% said they would deposit more money in a savings account, 12% said they would invest in the stock market and 10% aimed to save more into a pension.

Source:  Credit Action - January 2012 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

If so, figures from HSBC suggest that the 360,000 people who bought their first home in 2007 are unlikely to be able to move, with first time buyer house prices having fallen by £11,000 since then.

HSBC say that a typical first time buyer who bought in 2007 with a 10% deposit would have started with £16,000 worth of equity.  However, they calculate that in the years since, these homeowners are unlikely to have increased their equity, as their repayments will have been offset by the decline in the value of their home.

HSBC believes that moving up the housing ladder costs £27,000, leaving an £11,000 shortfall.

Source:  Credit Action - December 2011 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A text message alert system for those close to being overdrawn has been agreed by the UK banking industry.

From April, all major High Street banks will offer current account customers the option of receiving a phone or email warning if they are close to going into the red.

The service is one of many changes to consumer lending, including store card offers, agreed by the providers.

They also plan a seven day account switching service by September 2013.

Read the full article at bbc.co.uk

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The average new car now costs £6,689 annually to keep on the road, equating to £128.64 per week or 55.74p per mile.

Source:  Credit Action - December 2011 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

As nearly half the population struggle to make it to 'payday', a payday loan will become a reality for many.  New research by insolvency trade body R3 reveals that 3.5 million adults are considering taking out a payday loan over the next six months.

R3's research has identified a new group of 'zombie' debtors who currently only pay the interest charges on their debt and not the debt itself.  One in six individuals are only able to pay the interest on their debt rather than paying off the debt itself.

Frances Coulson, R3 President commented:

"Payday loans are not the best way to resolve debt struggles.  We know that many who take them out find them to be a negative experience, often escalating financial troubles.

We hear talk of 'zombie' businesses, but seeing individuals run their finances in the same way is troubling.  'Hanging on' each month simply cannot be maintained forever.  This group will have very few options should interest rates rise or their circumstances change."

Source:  R3 Press Release - 7 December 2011

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

UK base rate fell to a 315 year low when the official bank rate was reduced to 0.5% on the 5th of March 2009 and has been held at that level for 33 months in a row.

Source:  Credit Action - December 2011 edition

Permalink | Leave a comment  »