Monthly Debt News (July 2023)

(July 2023)

Monthly Debt News looks at debts and the causes of debts in Britain from various sources selected for professionals to make the debt sector simple.

This month’s Debt News includes: Debt collectors illicitly obtained French citizens data - Ofgem brings measures for debt recovery - UK household pay down mortgage and use savings - FCA introduced mortgage breathing space - UK Govt renationalising Thames Water. Finally, bite-size stats on student loans, universal credit fraud, financial exclusion and renters in poverty.

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Debt collector of UK fines ‘illicitly’ got data of drivers in France

That is the claim of 102 plaintiffs who have filed a complaint over fines relating to low-emission zones in London

More here: link

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Ofgem proposes £13 allowance in PPM price cap for energy suppliers

The measure is part of Ofgem’s new plan to protect PPM customers and help energy suppliers recover bad debts. Energy regulator Ofgem has today announced new measures to enhance rules protecting struggling prepayment meter (PPM) customers and addressing debt-related costs

More here: Link

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UK Households Pay Down Mortgage Debt and Raid Savings

Britons made a net repayment of mortgage debt for a second month in May and withdrew a record amount of savings as higher borrowing costs added to the cost-of-living squeeze.

More here: Link

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FCA enable firms to provide mortgage breathing space

The FCA has moved quickly to make changes to its rulebook to support key commitments made by lenders at last week’s mortgage summit held by the Chancellor.

More here: Link

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UK government looks at nationalising Thames Water as crisis deepens

Ministers on standby to intervene in debt-laden business a day after the abrupt exit of chief Sarah Bentley.

More here: Link

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The loan sharks profiting from the pain of soaring prices

"D", not his real name, has worked as an illegal moneylender for two decades and says business has never been so good.

More here: Link

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Bite-size stats

The average (student) loan in England at $18,200 was substantially higher than in any other country included in the analysis. The next highest was Norway at $11,900. 96% of students in England received loans, again above any other country (Australia and New Zealand were the next highest at 83% and 76% respectively. (Hansard)

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Under-declaration of income from work undertaken (Earnings/Employment) remained the largest source of Fraud (for universal credit), despite decreasing from 3.9% in FYE 2022 to 2.9% in FYE 2023. (DWP)

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Around 7.1 million people (one in seven, or around 14% of the adult population) in the UK fall into the definition of ‘financially excluded’, meaning they could struggle to access affordable and fair financial services.(LexisNexis)

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Social and private renters have poverty rates of 46% and 34%, respectively, compared with 12% for owner-occupiers. And they are also far more likely to be materially deprived or to live in food insecurity. (IFS)

Betar Bangla radio’s Ripon Ray: How fashionista turned political activist and debt advisor

PUBLISHED: 09:02 13 March 2019 | UPDATED: 09:03 13 March 2019 Emma Bartholomew Ripon Ray: Picture: Rukya Khan Debt advisor and radio talk show host Ripon Ray tells Emma Bartholomew how he’s seeing more and more people who are unable to just pay the basic bills Ripon Ray: Picture: Nick De Marco Self-confessed “arty-farty creative” Ripon Ray originally set out to be a fashionista in life, when he “found his calling” and changed track to become an activist. He’d been studying at the London School of Fashion, but going on an anti-fascist protest “triggered a couple of things”. “I dumped my studies and went to Kingsley College where I was doing full-on activism, and organising protest marches,” he told the Gazette . “I loved it but I got kicked out of there because I was too much of an activist and I wasn’t focusing on my studies.” He knuckled under, bagged a history degree and started out in the charity sector as a housing advi...

Shame no more to talk about domestic abuse and money trouble!

Silence can be a deadly killer for women of domestic abuse and instead of just hindering their recovery it could lead to their fatality. According to the Office of National Statistics (2015), two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner in a relationship. The definition of domestic abuse has been expanded in recent times by legislation: an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence. Julia Oviedo, a victim and survivor of domestic abuse, shared her personal experience on ‘In Conversation with Ripon Ray…the Community Money Matters Show’ on Betar Bangla Radio. It may seem just another story to many listeners but for an individual to talk about such a personal experience requires bravery, confidence and the will to encourage other victims to come forward and share their experiences. In her case, it was physic...

Housing & homelessness on Your Money Matters...with Ripon Ray

I would like to thank Marc Lancaster, Housing Policy Officer of Tower Hamlets Council, for coming on Your Money Matters show this week to explain to me about the rights and responsibilities of being a private, housing association or local authority tenant. He talked about the differences between Section 8 and Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended) and how you can use the law strategically to protect yourself. Current legislation protects a tenant's deposit. If it's not protected you can ask the court to make a judgement against your landlord to compensate you three times the amount due for breaking the law. He elucidated that local authorities also have a duty to support vulnerable tenants with advice and provide accommodation when they are at risk of homelessness.

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