The government has urged major energy companies to cut the price of fuel for domestic customers. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has encouraged companies to pass on savings from the falling cost of oil to consumers as soon as possible. As fuel prices have increased, many people have fallen into debt as they have found bills [...]
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Monthly Archives: December 2008
Chiltern Debt Monitor December 08
The average level of debt owed by a customer on a Chiltern debt management plan is down by over £1000 pounds since the beginning of 2008 and currently stands at its lowest amount since the Chiltern Debt Monitor started in 2007. However people can afford to repay less than they could at the beginning of [...]
The Two Year Mortgage Break
Gordon Brown has announced plans that may help consumers, that are having problems keeping up mortgage repayments, to avoid loosing their homes. People hit by the downturn, that can demonstrate a genuine change in circumstances, may be able to defer part of their mortgage interest for up to two years. The plan is designed to [...]
Busiest Online Shopping Day
I read today that experts predict it is going to be the busiest day of the year for online shopping. Apparently an estimated £320m will be spent today as consumers order gifts following a weekend of research, according to the internet retail trade body IMRG. Many of these transactions will involve going further into debt [...]
The Final Pitstop?
The recession has hit the motor industry hard, so hard that Honda will withdraw from Formula One unless they can find a buyer for the team! So how big is the problem within the motor industry? Well, as I mentioned in a previous article, car sales in Spain for november were virtually down 50% on [...]
The Pain in Spain
I was saddened to read that the recession is finally biting in Spain, a country many of us know and love and which, until a year or so ago, was consistently recording one of the highest growth rates in the Eurozone. Traditionally it is the construction industry which tends to be hardest hit in any [...]
Chiltern gets stamp of approval from the OFT
Debt specialist Chiltern has been given the stamp of approval by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), through its trade body, the Debt Managers Standards Association (DEMSA). They have been recognised by the OFT’s Consumer Code Approval Scheme – an initiative to promote and safeguard consumer’s interests by identifying, monitoring and rewarding better business practice. [...]
RBS To Give Homeowners Six Months
RBS have announced a change of policy for homeowners that are struggling with their mortgages and have guaranteed not to begin repossession proceedings until a mortgage is at least six months in arrears. The RBS group, which includes NatWest Bank, is now majority owned by the government. It is the fith biggest mortgage lender in [...]
Screw the Recession?
I read an article today about the way people spend their free time. A survey of 2000 adults said that their favourite way to spend their free time, ahead of window shopping and gossiping, was having sex. The survey was published by the Terrence Higgins Trust, an Aids Charity, as their campaign for safer sex [...]