 |
Archive for the ‘Debt News’ Category
Monday, March 8th, 2010
The total amount of net lending to individuals in the UK rose by £2.0 billion pounds in January. This is a growth rate of 0.8% for the 12 month period leading into the month. The figures were revealed in the recent “Bank of England’s Lending to Individuals: January 2010 report.”
The three-month annualised growth rate was 1.3%, a 0.4 percentage point increase from a revised 0.9% for December. Within the total, net lending secured on dwellings increased by £1.5 billion, above the December increase of £1.2 billion and the previous six-month average of £1.0 billion.
The news is likely to be viewed as positive within the debt collection industry as people start to loan again the chances of bad debt accruing will increase alongside it.
The twelve-month growth rate ticked up to 1.0%, from 0.9% in December. The three-month annualised growth rate rose to 1.4%. The number of loan approvals for house purchase (48,198) was lower than the December figure (58,223) and below the previous six-month average (55,924); approvals for remortgaging (23,611) and for other purposes (23,035) were also lower than in December and lower than their respective six-month averages.
Consumer credit increased by £0.5 billion, above the previous six-month average of a net repayment of £0.2 billion, and also above December’s net increase of £0.3 billion. Credit card lending increased by £0.2 billion and other loans and advances increased by £0.3 billion. The annual growth rate of consumer credit was less negative at -0.2%; the three-month annualised growth rate increased to 0.7%.
If you or your company has debt recovery requirements then call Federal Management FREE today on 0800 043 6922 and take the first steps in recovering your bad debts.
Tags: Bank of England, Loans, UK Growth, UK Net Lending
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
The total amount of personal debt in the UK stood at £1.436bn at the end of January 2010. This was a growth of 0.8% over the previous twelve months as seen in figures recently shown by Credit Action in the Debt Fact and Figures release.
The figures also revealed that total lending in January rose by £2.0bn and secured lending increased by £1.5bn in the month. Consumer credit lending increased by £0.5bn (total lending in Jan 2008 grew by £8.4bn).
Total secured lending on dwellings at the end of January 2010 stood at £1,237bn. The twelve-month growth rate was 1.0%. Total consumer credit lending to individuals at the end of January 2010 was £225bn with the annual growth rate of consumer credit was less negative at – 0.2%.
The average household debt in the UK is £8,939 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to £18,623 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan.
The average household debt in the UK is £58,040 (including mortgages). If you add to this the December 2009 pre budget report figure for public sector net debt (PSND) expected in 2014-15 (excluding financial interventions) then this figure rises to £116,493 per household.
The average debt owed by every UK adult now stands at £30,306 (including mortgages). This is 129% of average earnings. Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.1m households who currently have mortgages now stands at £111,474. Britain’s interest repayments on personal debt were £68.3bn in the last 12months.
The average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately £2,710 each year. According to PwC the average household will need to spend approximately 15% of net income purely to service the interest payments arising from personal debt. Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to £4,667 per average UK adult at the end of January 2010.
Tags: Personal Debt, UK Debt, UK Household Debt
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Across the UAE, lenders are hiring international debt collection agencies to hunt down customers who owe them money as they attempt to recoup huge losses incurred when thousands of expats skipped the country without clearing their debts, Emirates Business reported on Tuesday.
In one example cited by the UAE daily Dubai-based mortgage lender Tamweel has hired a debt collection company to pursue a customer in India and is threatening to take legal action in India and the UAE if the customer does not pay up.
“If the customer chooses not to cooperate, then, under the legal framework, we reserve the right to recover our dues,” Tamweel was quoted as saying in a statement.
Banks and mortgage providers in the UAE have seen the amount bad loans on their books soar over the past 18 months amid the economic downturn.
They went on a lending binge during the boom years, but when the global financial crisis hit many expatriates who lost their jobs returned home without paying their debts.
Banks are increasingly turning to the courts to recoup losses with Barclays recently winning a landmark court case in Dubai allowing the British bank to repossess properties of customers who had defaulted on mortgage payments.
UAE bank provisions more than doubled to $2.57 billion in the first nine months of 2009, compared to the year-earlier period, and likely ended the year near the $4 billion mark, according to the Kuwait Financial Centre (Markaz).
Provisions as a percent of UAE banks’ total loans likely reached 1.72 percent by the end of 2009, up from 1.13 percent in the first nine months of the year, Markaz said.
Tags: dubai, economic downturn, international debt collection, UAE
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Recently released figures show that Fraud is costing the British economy £30bn a year, or £621 for every person in the country.
The National Fraud Authority (NFA) released the figures which were double the previous estimate of £13bn, which hadn’t taken into account the total financial loss resulting from fraud as much of it remains undetected or unreported.
The public sector is the most hard hit sector of fraud with around 58 per cent of all fraud against it, which includes £15.2bn of tax fraud and £1.1bn of benefit fraud.
Almost a third of fraud (31 per cent) is committed against companies and the remaining 12 per cent is against members of the public, the report found.
Breaking down the private sector fraud reveals the the financial service industry recorded the highest loss to fraudsters, estimated to be £3.8bn, with £1bn in mortgage fraud and over £2bn lost in insurance fraud. Fraud in plastic cards, online banking and cheques comprised most of the remainder.
Credit and debit card fraud is estimated to be 0.1 per cent of total transactions.
The NFA’s chief executive, Bernard Herdan, said ”With this vital information we can develop clearer priorities to prevent, detect and deter fraudsters. We will use the data to help identify those areas of fraud that cause the most harm to the UK economy. Reducing the cost of fraud is important but even more significantly I want to stop more people from becoming victims.”
Baroness Scotland, the attorney general, urged more organisations to report the money they lose to fraud. She said: “We now have a much more accurate fraud picture which is crucial so we can better target fraudsters.”
Mike Bowron, City of London Police commissioner and the lead on fraud for the Association of Chief Police Officers, added: “We always believed that the true cost of fraud could be much higher than previous estimates. It is vital that we ensure that the methodology used to measure the cost of fraud on the UK economy is as up to date and as comprehensive as is possible.”
Tags: British Economy, Fraud, National Fraud Authority, NFA
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
The US debt collection industry is wired as the implementation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act moves closer. Many debt collectors are expecting large changes as of Feb. 22, when many provisions of the Act take effect, with the primary focus now on adapting to what is soon to be a new landscape – without experiencing a drop in revenue. That could be challenging.
What the CARD Act does is to limit the amount of credit that is available to a consumer after they havetravelled down all other avenues. As a result, the credit crackdown is directly impacting the debt recovery industry.
With the main focus of the CARD Act being to rein in credit card practices and limiting fees, a wide range of card issuers and banks have looked to change their business model to compensate by actively reducing risk. They are tightening credit lines, dropping or restricting some borrowers and marketing less aggressively.
The credit-limit reductions by many of the banks will have two major impacts: reduce the average balance size of accounts placed for collection; and remove some liquidity from the market, making it more difficult to collect.
These changes are running headlong into the consumer behavior of the past several years, when many people typically spent their savings and maxed out home equity and personal loans. For many consumers, credit cards are the only short-term credit available.
But the CARD Act includes one very significant and far-reaching change for consumers: they can no longer pay off a credit card debt using another card.
Tags: CARD act, credit card fees, us debt collection
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
The fact that unsecured loans can be availed without pledging any collateral makes it easy for the applicants to derive the finances, without undertaking too many risks. In fact, the collateral free condition is responsible for the loans being made available to tenants, students, non homeowners as well as homeowners. It also presents a certain degree of flexibility, which further makes these loans a highly ideal choice for the applicants.
As these loans are devoid of any collateral pledging, the risk on the applicant’s part is greatly reduced. As a matter of fact, in the absence of collateral, the processing of the loans is fast, since the task of assessing the equity present in the collateral does not take place. This in turn results in its quick approval. Thus, in times of urgent financial crisis, you can surely rely on these loans.
Usually, the amount approved is largely based on the borrower’s income and repaying capability. To establish your credibility, lenders may ask for certain documents related to your income and employment status, recent bank statements along with your credit check report. It is on the basis of these details that lenders released an amount in the range of £ 1000 – £2500. The amount derived can be used for financing a car, consolidating debt collection requirements, education purposes, meeting wedding expenses, home improvement, etc.
These loans are made available for a short term period of 2 to 10 years. Considering its collateral free approval and the huge risk involved, lenders to down size the risk involved, approve the loans against a marginally high rate of interest. But then due to the intense competition among the lenders, a proper research will help you to get competitive rates.
Applicants with poor credit problems such as CCJs, IVA, arrears, defaults etc can also apply for the loans provided they are willing to pay a high rate of interest. The borrowers have an out right chance to improve the credit score on ensuring timely repayment of the borrowed amount.
Unsecured loans can be sourced from traditional lenders as well as online lenders. However, if you want to avail the loans with flexible terms and conditions prefer to apply online. Make sure to repay the loan amount, other wise it may result in bad credit problems and debt recovery agencies contacting you.
Tags: collateral, credit check report, high interest rates, unsecured loans
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
A recent survey has revealed that businesses around the world have an increased likelihood of outsourcing their debt collection requirements in the aftermath of the recent financial crisis.
The figures, recently released as results from the Global Collections Review which surveyed over 3500 companies across four continents, revealed that when it came down to international business to business debts, along with domestic trade debts, companies were often outsourcing their debt recovery as a means to expedite the process.
“Of all countries surveyed, Belgium and the Netherlands stand out with the highest percentage of companies increasing their use of outsourced collections services (44 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively). Amongst eight different criteria for selecting a collections agency, businesses across all countries deemed the success rate of collections efforts to be most important, followed by price, global expertise, local knowledge and easy access to up-to-date information,” the survey revealed.
The review itself gives more than useful insight into the attitude of businesses towards debt collection and shows that despite the expected similarities such as how businesses assess success rates or intimate knowledge of in-country and global collections landscapes, the survey also revealed many geographic and cultural variations.
The survey looked at the impact of the recent economic woes had on outsourcing debt collection needs, and also gave some insight into the factors that companies consider when they are looking for a debt collection agency, as well as those that might discourage a business from outsourcing their collections. For example, one note of interest showed a difference in opinion when considering the importance of the relationship with the debtor in appointing a collections supplier.
Another finding was the additional services in collection agency’s portfolio, which proved universally to be the least important factor in the selection of a debt collections service provider.
The survey was conducted among 3,538 businesses across 20 countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the USA
Tags: business to business, debt collection, Global Collections Review, outsourcing
Posted in Debt News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
As Irish banks look to debt recovery methods, the number of companies that passed into receivership more than doubled in 2009.
In a recent release of figures by the InsolvencyJournal.ie it was revealed that there was an increase of 118% in the amount of receiverships and the total number of insolvencies increased by a whopping 82% to 1,406.
The InsolvencyJournal.ie is run by accountancy firm Kavanagh Fennell who claimed that a decline in the amount of receiverships issued by Creditors in December could be interpreted as the Irish banks are “boxing clever” before the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). The number of receiverships – the process whereby a secured creditor applies to the court to have a receiver appointed to sell the company’s assets so they can recover their money – peaked at 21 in August. But just seven receivers were appointed in December, compared to 10 in the same month in 2008.
“It could be partly the time of year, but there is a ‘let Nama happen’ feeling as well. Let some of the debts get into Nama and see what happens, that’s the thinking,” Mr Fennell said.
InsolvencyJournal.ie was launched in February of 2009 by Kavanagh Fennell in an attempt to track the rapidly increasing amount of company failures in Ireland.
However, although total insolvencies rocketed as Ireland’s recession deepened, a breakdown of the different types of insolvencies reveals other changes in corporate recovery practices occurred throughout the year.
The number of examinerships, the process whereby court protection is obtained to assist the survival of a company, declined from 62 cases in 2008 to 37 in 2009.
The drop is partially explained by the granting of court protection to 13 companies in the Thomas Read group in 2008, inflating that year’s figures.
But Mr Fennell said it was clear that the High Courts had also sought more realistic bids for survival from companies and that companies had also become “more wary of the process” following rulings made in relation to developer Liam Carroll’s Zoe group.
During 2009, both the High Court and the Supreme Court refused to grant protection to six companies in the Zoe Group. The courts ruled that the companies’ chances of survival were “significantly improbable”.
A Supreme Court ruling is pending on whether a survival plan for three companies in the Fleming building group can go ahead. The survival scheme was approved in the High Court in November, but ACC Bank, which opposed the scheme, has appealed the decision, arguing that it prejudices the bank’s ability to recover some €22 million owed to it by the group.
Mr Fennell said examinerships could “come back into play” in sectors such as retail next year, but that there would “definitely be fewer” such rescue bids in the construction sector.
“It’s great legislation for the right companies,” Mr Fennell said of the examinership process.
InsolvencyJournal.ie’s figures show that creditors’ voluntary liquidations, whereby a liquidator is appointed to the company by the creditors of the insolvent company, was the most common type of insolvency in 2009, as in previous years, accounting for 1,139 of the cases.
Tags: insolvencyjournal.ie, Irish Debt Recovery, NAMA, Receiverships
Posted in Debt News, Financial News, International Debt News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Federal Management, the UK’s leader for Private & Commercial Debt Collection has been awarded certification by the British Standards Institution (BSI) to the quality management standard ISO9001.
Marc Curtis-Smith, Managing Director of Federal Management commented “We are a very focused and professional organization with the interests of our staff and clients at heart. The ISO9001 certification is very important on many levels. Not only does it demonstrate that we are a hugely professional organization but it gives a reassurance of quality to our clients, old, existing and new.”
The ISO9001 accreditation is the most established and internationally adopted standard relating to quality management. Federal Management decided to implement ISO9001 to review client perceptions of the business and also to review all systems and practices to ensure they are well managed, maximizing productivity and achieving the right results.
Federal Management are continuing to push the standards of service within the Debt Recovery industry and act as pioneers with their hard working and diligent approach to their work. 2010 and will see the continued expansion of the company and big things are expected by them and their partners as they continue to develop their services.
Tags: commercial debt collection, debt recovery, federal management, ISO
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
Monday, January 11th, 2010
Contrary to their requests for banks and creditors to help companies stay afloat, the government are heading the pack in issuing court petitions to wind companies up.
The details show a dramatic u-turn on the goverment’s calls for creditor groups, such as banks, to do everything in their power to help companies who are struggling to keep operating.
Figures released by accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young show that in the last six months HM Revnue and Customs (HMRC) were behind 43% of all creditor petitions seeking to wind up companies for debt collection purposes that were lodged.
Nick Hancock, a partner at UHY Hacker Young said “The most important message for businesses is that they cannot fall behind with tax payments and then hope for HMRC’s good will. Despite the government’s sympathetic stance towards businesses during the recession, HMRC’s priority remains to maximise debt recovery,” he said, warning that he expected tax officials to toughen “time to pay” agreements as pressure to restore the public finances mounts after the general election.
“If this is HMRC in ’soft touch’ mode, businesses will be concerned about Revenue & Customs turning the screw after the election … Company directors who can’t come to a workable agreement with the taxman or who break the terms of an agreement, will find that HMRC will be very quick to push the button on their business.”
HMRC had been offering companies who were struggling “time to pay” agreements if they were provided with an advance warning of likely payment problems by the company in question, but it would seem that these arrangements were a lot harder to come by once the firm had fallen into arrears on payments.
The political tension between recovering tax arrears and offering temporarily stretched businesses some lenience echoes the government’s equivocal guidance to state-supported banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. They have been under pressure to both rebuild their capital bases while also continuing to lend to struggling small and medium-sized businesses through the recession.
Tags: debt recovery, goverment seeking court petitions, revenue and customs, tax payment arrears
Posted in Debt News, Financial News | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
|
