As a result of the current financial climate and global credit crunch, the number of consumers facing severe hardship has spiraled. The prospects for the future don’t look much better. Many experts are predicting that unemployment could soon top three million, and that the economy could soon enter a sustained period of deflation. The lack [...]
February, 2009
Huge increases in unsecured debt spending
Almost ten per cent of all UK adults now spend over half of their monthly income to pay off unsecured debts. According to a survey from credit reference agency Callcredit, the number of individuals paying 50 per cent of their earnings or more each month towards unsecured credit balances has soared over the last 16 [...]
Debt Consolidation
In the current financial climate many people are finding it difficult to keep up monthly repayments on their credit cards, loans and other forms of finance. More and more consumers are looking at different debt consolidation options as a way of getting out of trouble. There are several debt consolidation options available, the most common [...]
Debt advice charity warns of banks’ underhand tactics
Debt advice charity, the Citizen’s Advice, has reported that some banks are leaving customers unable to meet mortgage and other repayments, as they have unknowingly taken money from their current accounts to cover debts held with them. Debt help organisations have called for the underhand practice to be stopped, which allows banks to take money [...]
Mortgages slump to lowest ever level
In 2008 the number of agreed mortgages slumped to its lowest level in 34 years according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Just 516,000 mortgages were lent to borrowers in 2008, down by almost 50% on the previous year. This is the lowest figure since the CML started recording levels in 1974. First-time buyers [...]
Free Debt Advice
If you are struggling to make your monthly debt repayments, then you could be in severe financial difficulty and you may benefit from the free debt advice on offer from The Debt People, Chiltern Debt Management and Hamilton Locke. We are amongst the UK’s leading financial advice specialists and we are licensed to give free [...]
‘Putin’ the Boot in!
In my article ‘Where’s the D Notice?’ I questioned the advisability of allowing an irresponsible press to damage confidence in a rocky economy and propelling us into a downward financial spin. Guess what? At least the Russians agree! (‘No surprise there!’ did I hear you mutter?) The Head of the Federal Financial Markets Service, Vladimir [...]
Mortgage crash take 2
We could be on the verge of a new mortgage crisis, to match the American sub-prime crash that started in 2007, according to latest reports. City analysts predict that America’s property market is about to suffer a similar fate following the sub-prime fiasco, fuelled by increasing consumer debts and falling household incomes. The fear stems [...]
Debt worries forcing expats home
It seems that it isn’t just here that the economic climate is causing Brits to worry about their debts. For many expatriate workers in Dubai they are abandoning their cars at the airport and returning home, rather than risk facing a jail sentence for defaulting on loans. In Dubai under their prevailing Sharia law, the [...]
Interest rate hits historic low
As expected, the Bank of England cut the base rate of interest by 0.5% today, to an all-time low of 1%. Whilst this is expected to relieve the finances of people with tracker or standard variable rate mortgages, many more will still not reap the benefits of a historically low base rate. As I mentioned [...]
