Pay just £300 a month and drive off in a brand new car. That’s the sales pitch that ignited the motor industry, with millions signing up to buy cars on the never-never. But there is a fetid underside to these loans, known as personal contract plans and hire purchase, which could leave drivers car-less, owing … Read more
The buy now, pay later behemoth Klarna has launched an advertising campaign asking users to consider whether what they’re buying is necessary, despite boasting to retailers that it helps people spend more. The company, one of Europe’s most successful start-ups with 8.6million UK users and a valuation of around $5.5billion, has faced criticism from some … Read more
How have you spent the lockdown? For many people it’s involved a lot of TV. The market research company Kantar estimated in May a fifth of all UK households had signed up to a TV streaming service like Amazon Prime, Netflix or the newly launched Disney+ since the start of lockdown. Parents juggling working from … Read more
Borrowers were granted a reprieve from overdraft rates of nearly 40 per cent at the start of April as banks were ordered by the regulator to keep costs low as the coronavirus struck. But last week the Financial Conduct Authority reopened the door to sky high overdraft charges when it said it was not extending … Read more
Zopa to offer lower credit card interest rates to careful spenders who have better credit ratings Zopa will launch a credit card with interest rates as low as 9.9% The better the borrower’s credit score, the lower the rate they would be charged By Helen Cahill For The Mail On Sunday Published: 22:31 BST, 4 … Read more
Credit card and loan borrowers can freeze repayments for three more months, but regulator says they should pay a reduced amount if possible The FCA brought in new unsecured debt proposals It announced a three-month extension to payment holidays Watchdog also says overdraft borrowers could have a £500 fee-free buffer for three more months – … Read more
Credit card interest rates hit a record high this month despite a record low base rate as providers hiked the cost of borrowing for those with poor credit histories or turned down by mainstream banks. The average credit card purchase APR now stands at 25.5 per cent, up from 24.1 per cent last June, after … Read more
The coronavirus crisis will leave millions of households facing a £6.1billion collective personal debt tsunami, one of the UK’s most well-known debt charities warns today. The Government should hand out £5billion in grants to those hardest hit financially so they can repay their debts, bring in repayment plans for those behind on their council tax … Read more
Banks and regulators in talks over extending credit card payment holidays for hard-up borrowers for another three months The FCA extended mortgage holidays last week Bankers are now in talks with it over doing the same thing for unsecured debts There are concerns due to the cost of rolling over more expensive debt Taking a … Read more
Unscrupulous advertisers are mimicking the names of legitimate debt charities, research has revealed, raising fears that vulnerable people looking for help are at risk of bad advice. Since the start of April, nine companies purporting to offer debt advice have been placed on the Financial Conduct Authority’s blacklist of unauthorised firms, according to exclusive analysis … Read more