Debt News (Feb 2024)

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 councils warning MPs the fear of bankruptcy, MPs recommend councils should not be chasing debters who are unable to afford to pay debts, a rise in enforcement agents by £20% to recover council tax debts, mortgage defaults jump since Christmas and a student chased for a student loan that she had not borrowed. There are also bitesize stats to get an overview of the causes of debts in Britain. You can also catch up with previous Debt Talk podcasts if you have missed them.

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News:

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More than 50 councils warn MPs of bankruptcy fears over emergency housing costs

One council said it had seen its emergency housing costs almost quadruple over the last six years

More here: Link

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Council tax – councils should not be chasing arrears from households that can least afford it, say MPs

The Government should act to ensure local councils are not aggressively chasing council tax debt from those who can least afford it, says the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee in a report published today.

More here: Link

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Bailiff referrals rise by 20% over council debts

Referrals to bailiffs in England and Wales to recover unpaid council debts have risen by nearly 20%, a BBC investigation has found.

More here: Link

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Mortgage and credit card default rates jumped in run-up to Christmas, lenders tell Bank of England

Mortgage defaults expected to get ‘even worse’ over the coming months as high-interest rates pile ‘immense’ pressure on households

More here: Link

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HMRC is charging me for a student loan that I have never had

It has taken £4,000 from my salary, and has referred me to a debt collection company

More here: Link

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(Jan 2024) - Debt Talk: Gambling & debt (Podcast)

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Bite Size stats:

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The last year has seen substantial increases in average arrears, reaching £1,214 for electricity and £1,037 for gas in Q3 2023 (up by 31% for electricity and 51% for gas compared to Q3 2022). (OFGEM)

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Net consumer credit borrowing fell to £1.2 billion in December from £2.1 billion in November. This was mainly driven by lower borrowing through credit cards, which fell from £1.0 billion in November to £0.3 billion in December. (Bank of England)

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At the start of 2022-23 there was £4.9 billion of council tax arrears outstanding. During 2022-23, local authorities collected £900 million (18.3%) of this outstanding council tax, irrespective of the year to which it related (before any write off action) (UK Gov)

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(Nov 2023) - Debt Talk: Debt, housing costs & homelessness (Podcast)

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THE END

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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