Personal Debt Help & Counseling - Greater Manchester, Cheshire & Yorkshire

Latest News

26/01/2009

BUSINESS WELCOMES SECOND BANK BAIL OUT

Business groups have supported the government’s move to boost the credit market with a second multi-billion-pound bail out of the UK’s banks.

The latest measures will see the government offering banks guarantees against losses on bad debts, extending a scheme that enables banks to exchange illiquid securities for government bonds, and underwriting new issues of mortgages and loans bundled as bonds.

The hope is that the new boost to bank liquidity will encourage more lending to businesses starved of vital finance.

Richard Lambert, the CBI’s Director-General, said “Extraordinary times demand extra extraordinary policy solutions.  The viability of ordinary businesses was under threat, putting jobs and investment across the land at risk.  The Government needed to be bold and it has been.

These measures are the essential pre-cursors for economic stability which will expand the availability of credit, open new channels of credit and get the economy working again.”

Mr Lambert added “ These measures are not silver bullets that will turn the economy around overnight.  However, if fully implemented they should stem a further downward recessionary spiral and provide a stable economic platform on which the UK can trade through this difficult period.”

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, commented “Since the original bank bail out failed to unblock the paralysis in the credit markets, it was clearly necessary for the government to take further measures, but the dangers to the UK’s public finances are huge.

If the new measures fail to work the government must be prepared, however reluctantly, to do the lending job directly."

20/01/2009

LOW INFLATION MAY BE BAD NEWS FOR THE ECONOMY

The latest rate in the cost of living is beginning to slow and figures for December showed the biggest one month fall since April of 1992.

The annual rate of inflation has now dropped to 3.1%.  The reduction in inflation has been brought about by the widespread lowering of prices.  We are all aware of the pre Christmas sales of up to 70% off.

This is the third month in a row that we have seen a reduction in the rate of inflation and although it is too early to call a downward trend, worries about deflation are now heavily on the minds of economists.

Hard strapped families are obviously pleased that the rate of inflation is reducing.  We have all seen a marked reduction in the price of fuel and general cost of living, however, if deflation continues over a long period of time it is an extremely damaging thing for the state of the economy.

In essence it means more of us are expecting an ever weakening economy and we will see a marked reduction in spending and investment whilst we wait for prices of assets to decline.

Unfortunately the down side is that less investment and less purchasing will inevitably translate into an even larger number of individual companies facing insolvency and a marked increase in the number of those who are unemployed.

We are a long way from a full-blown deflationary scenario and at the current time we are all experiencing a better deal particularly on non-food items than we were 12 months ago.

The Pound is falling like a stone against the Euro and the Dollar and obviously the Bank of England will be keeping a close eye on events.

14/10/2008

Personal Insolvency Figures Misleading

The trade body for Insolvency Professionals, R3, has recently advised that official Government statistics for personal insolvency are failing to reflect the true depth of the insolvency crisis facing the UK. The official figures do not include individuals who have entered into Debt Management Plans in order to address their debt problems.

R3 estimate that there could be as many as 600,000 people subject to Debt Management Plans that have not been included in the figures.

Official figures covering the three months to the end of June 08 show that 24,553 people went bankrupt or took out an IVA during this period. Whilst this doesn't include those individuals who were already subject to an IVA or who were an undischarged bankrupt at the beginning of the period, it demonstrates how the official government figures do not give the full picture.

Personal Insolvency Set To Rise

One thing is clear however: the current global financial turbulence will only contribute to the growing financial worries many individuals are facing and it seems certain that personal insolvency figures will rise in the coming months.

During these times of financial crisis, it is imperative that the debt solution an individual chooses in order to deal with their debts is the best decision for them and for their creditors.

Free Professional Consultation

Poppleton & Appleby Manchester offer a free no-obligation consultation in order to discuss the various options that are available to debt laden individuals. To make an appointment, or for a telephone consultation, please call 0161 834 7025.

16/08/2007

Britons Overall Debt Burden Now Reaches £1.325 Billion

Recent research from moneysupermarket . com found that 2.1 million Britons are permanently overdrawn, and over 80% of the uk population regularly overspends.

The managing director of CreditExpert.co.uk, said that such findings reveal "a lack of understanding of the long term consequences of these actions" and added that "its imperative that people fully realise the implications of not managing their finances properly"

One of the most effective ways to keep track of spending and repaying is by creating a budget to monitor your monthly expenditure for household bills, mortgage payments, loan repayments and other expenditures.

Not only can following the budget help prevent debt problems but it can also facilitate the success of Individual Voluntary Arrangements because keeping to a regular payment schedule is essential.

Figures recently released from the Insolvency Service discloses the number of IVAs taken out during the first quarter of 2007 reached 13,233.

The importance of learning how to effectively budget can mean the difference between getting out of debt and staying in the red.