by News Team on March 9th, 2008
British consumers are “fuming” about the recent price hikes that have seen their energy bills rise dramatically, according to recent research.
Figures from Moneysupermarket.com have shown that only two per cent of people believe that the recent price rises have been justified and for many people the increases have led to additional debt management concerns.
Five of the UK’s six largest energy companies have increased the prices they charge consumers for electricity and gas in 2008 and a full 95 per cent of people feel as if they are “being cheated” by their provider, the price comparison firm reports.
Scott Byrom, utilities manager at Moneysupermarket.com, said: ” People are quite rightly getting hot under the collar at the prospect of average annual bills of over £1,000, but barely any of us should be paying that much.”
Last week, Virgin Money reported that thousands of football fans around the country spend hundreds of pounds each month on following their respective clubs.
Posted in Debt Management, Personal Debt | No Comments »
by News Team on March 8th, 2008
A new report from the Skipton Building Society has highlighted the extent to which young consumers living in England’s largest county are indebted to their creditors.
Overall, close to three-quarters of all men and women aged under-35 in Yorkshire have some form of debt management burden and the issue has become a major concern for people across the country.
In fact, apart from rent or mortgage payments, interest on debts has become the largest single outgoing of the typical Yorkshire consumer and millions of young people are now earning less than they spend on a monthly basis.
Furthermore, the average person aged under-35 in the region pays out almost £160 per month on interest demands in their efforts to become debt free.
A statement from Skipton read: “For some, financial hardship has even led to real physical hardship, as 27 per cent have been forced to not eat properly and 25 per cent to take on more than one job.”
Figures from the Credit Action charity suggest that the overall debt management burden in the UK increases by close to £1 million every five minutes.
Posted in Debt Management, Debt and Young People, Personal Debt | No Comments »
by News Team on March 7th, 2008
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) has only delayed the inevitable by deciding not to cut the base rate of interest this month, it has been claimed.
According to the online mortgage firm mform, a reduction in the cost of borrowing will have to be introduced soon and should have been brought by the MPC at the earliest opportunity.
Consumers, many of whom are dealing with serious debt management problems, are finding it increasingly difficult to borrow money and mform is convinced a base rate cut would have helped this situation.
“Lenders are becoming increasingly choosy about who they lend to and on what terms and that will impact on monthly mortgage payments,” said Eamonn Rice, chief executive of mform.
“The bank’s failure to cut has just delayed the inevitable and increased the probability that a bigger reduction will be needed soon.”
Last week, Citizens Advice reported that council tax, energy bill and mortgage repayment increases have been adding to the debt problems of families around the UK in recent weeks.
Posted in Creditor Behaviour, Debt Management, Houses and Mortgages | No Comments »
by News Team on March 7th, 2008
The average debt management burden of a British household, exclusive of mortgage arrears, is in excess of £9,000, according to the latest set of data compiled by the Credit Action charity.
If mortgage-related borrowing is brought into the equation then the typical household debt is worth a total of around £56,700 and the average for each British adult is close to £30,000.
Additionally, there are some 11.8 million homeowners around the country and the typical scale of their associated arrears is greater than £100,000 each, the charity reports.
Furthermore, Credit Action has described the amounts being paid out by UK consumers to service their debts as having “soared” in the past 12 months and reached an annual average of almost £3,775 per household.
Meanwhile, the Citizens Advice charity continues to be approached for debt advice by thousands of individuals from around the UK on a weekly basis.
Posted in Debt Management, Debt and Young People, Houses and Mortgages, Personal Debt | No Comments »
by News Team on March 7th, 2008
Millions of people around the UK are convinced that the county has already entered a period of recession, according to recent research.
With debt management woes worsening for many thousands of families, figures from Fool.co.uk have shown that 17 per cent of UK consumers believe the country’s economy is in recession.
The price comparison firm looked into the attitudes of consumers who have never experienced an economic downturn before and a third of these so-called “recession virgins” said they felt it would be impossible for them to become debt free.
Furthermore, of the 1,000 adults polled by Fool.co.uk, almost three-quarters expressed the view that the easy availability of credit in recent years has been detrimental to British society as a whole.
“Simple measures such as reining in spending will ensure that we have a pot of spare money tucked away to see us through a slump,” said David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk.
MoneyExpert recently expressed concern about the extent to which British families are funding their everyday expenses through credit card debt.
Posted in Creditor Behaviour, Houses and Mortgages | No Comments »
by News Team on March 7th, 2008
Millions of people around the UK are convinced that the county has already entered a period of recession, according to recent research.
With debt management woes worsening for many thousands of families, figures from Fool.co.uk have shown that 17 per cent of UK consumers believe the country’s economy is in recession.
The price comparison firm looked into the attitudes of consumers who have never experienced an economic downturn before and a third of these so-called “recession virgins” said they felt it would be impossible for them to become debt free.
Furthermore, of the 1,000 adults polled by Fool.co.uk, almost three-quarters expressed the view that the easy availability of credit in recent years has been detrimental to British society as a whole.
“Simple measures such as reining in spending will ensure that we have a pot of spare money tucked away to see us through a slump,” said David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk.
MoneyExpert recently expressed concern about the extent to which British families are funding their everyday expenses through credit card debt.
Posted in Debt Management, Personal Debt | No Comments »
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