According to the Bank of England, the amount of personal debt written off increased a staggering 25% in the final quarter of 2010. For the last three months of the year, building societies and banks took £2.27 billion in write offs – debt that individuals had defaulted on. This is up £1.83 billion from the third quarter of 2010. The primary area of default was with credit card debt. Individuals are simply unable to manage their unsecured debts with the defaults climbing to £1.18 billion … [Read more...]

Before going any further with this article we need to point out that we do not cold call, if you think you have received cold calls from us please read this. The CAB has filed a "super complaint" against debt and loan companies they say are using "unethical methods". The CAB claim loan finder and debt management companies are scamming tens of thousands of debtors out of substantial amounts of money. People who are typically targeted include those who have difficulty obtaining loans from … [Read more...]

A recent report suggested that lenders in the finance industry should contribute to cover part of the cost of debt advice on the basis that it saves them money in the long term, and helps solve the social problem of excess debt (which these companies are at least in part responsible for). In the UK, personal debt has reached £1.5 trillion. On top of that, unemployment hos now reached 2.5 million. Both of these factors are putting tremendous financial pressure on a large proportion of the … [Read more...]

Debt advice services, especially those that are provided for free, remain in turmoil despite an apparent U-Turn by the government, who had only recently announced that financial aid for these services would not be renewed. This led to uproar for shocked and disbelieving debt advice workers as many of them seemed to be staring down the barrel of redundancy, whilst the implications for those seeking debt advice were glaringly obvious. With problems both directly and indirectly linked to debt … [Read more...]

Free debt advice services are set to be cut, other paid debt advice firms are struggling under the watchful eye of the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) in response to claims they are not operating with enough transparency and individual debt levels are soaring out of control. It seems there is going to be some rather inevitable and uncomfortable fallout in the world of debt management and finance in general, with no apparent measures in place to sweep up the mess. Debt, effects different … [Read more...]

Unable to prove that they were meeting the rules set by the Office of Fair Trading, 35 debt advice companies have had to surrender their licences. In addition, a further 8 companies have been given the news that their own licences will be revoked and there are other debt advice firms that are currently under review. Unlike the free debt advice services (who have recently been told that their funding is being axed), these debt management companies often charge premium fees for handing out … [Read more...]

At a time when the need for debt advice is increasing, many debt advisors are turning away those people that need the advice the most. In what seems like an endless swathe of government cuts to essential services, debt advisors have discovered that they are next in line as their funding gets cut in March 2011, with no renewal. During the course of the past five years, debt advisors have been able to hand out free debt advice thanks to a Financial Inclusion Fund which provided £25m per year. … [Read more...]

A recent study from Northern Ireland indicates that over 1,600 people recently sought debt advice on how to manage personal debt. 1,620 individuals disclosed information to Advice NI who reported that there was a total debt of £28.7 million spanning November 2009 to October 2010. Of this debt, 32% was mortgage debt at a whopping £9 million, while credit card amounts trailed at £6 million. Areas where the request for advice was highest were North Belfast, Magherafelt, East Belfast, … [Read more...]

We have recently received complaints from a number of people who were very upset having received cold calls and automated telephone calls. There seems to be some confusion over the identy of the company responsible for this. What we can say with absolute honesty is that it is not us. We never have nor ever will: Cold Call Use Automated Calling Machines The only circumstances under which we will call you are: You complete an enquriy form requesting free debt advice on this … [Read more...]