Students Considering Bankruptcy

Filed Under  Personal Finance, UK Debt News  |  Leave a Comment

Students heading for colleges and universities are already considering bankruptcy as an option should they find themselves in too much debt.

According to Equifax, the credit reference agency, 11% of respondents would take the bankruptcy route should they find themselves in financial difficulty.

What students are possibly not considering are the serious restrictions that bankruptcy brings.

Bankruptcy not only affects your credit status for 6 years, but also restricts where you are able to work.

Many financial and law firms will not employ someone who is bankrupt and if this is an area of study, then bankruptcy will not be an option should a financial problem occur.

Read more information on Bankruptcy

Second Hand PC Scam

Filed Under  Scams and Fraud Warnings  |  Leave a Comment

If you are thinking about selling an old computer anytime soon, you are warned to ensure all data on the computer is wiped off before selling it on.

Many of our old computers find themselves in Nigeria and many of these computers still have personal information stored on the hard drives as people either never thought to wipe them or perhaps didn’t realise there was a risk.

These computers along with the personal data are now being sold for as little as £15 each.

A BBC reporter bought a computer in Nigeria, only to find it contained personal data of one Ted Roberts who is from Essex.

Ted Roberts left information on his hard drive such as bank account numbers and sort codes, birthdates of his children and details about his work including his password for his computer.

I think we can confidently say that Mr Roberts didn’t think for a minute that his computer would end up being sold on in Nigeria. Luckily for Mr Roberts, his details were found by an honest BBC reporter, it could have been a very different story had these details landed up in the wrong hands.

If you are thinking about selling a computer or trading your old computer in for a new one and your not sure how to wipe data from your computer, take a look at Microsofts website which gives you instructions on Cleaning your hard drive before Dumping your pc.

You can read more on this on Real Story, and you can view a programme on this evening at 19.30 on BBC1

Buckling Under Debt

Filed Under  UK Debt News  |  Leave a Comment

One person in every five in England and Wales is said to be buckling under a mountain of debt, a trend helped along by rises in the cost of borrowing.

Insolvencies in England and Wales rose 66.3 percent in the 3 months leading up to June and court orders for home repossession jumped by a 5th.

Mark Sands, director of personal insolvency of financial consultants KPMG said:

Given that consumers are now facing higher fuel and heating costs as well as heftier council tax bills, we forecast that the stress on those in debt is likely to increase. This week’s rise in interest rates will place added pressure on those already on the brink.

With mortgage rates on the rise, homeowners are feeling the pressure meeting their financial obligations and thousands who have secured borrowings on their property are facing the prospect of loosing their homes due to house repossession orders.

Britain’s banks are blaming the change in the Bankruptcy Law, which they claim have caused a surge in bad debt charges in their financial year. They say the changes in The Enterprise Act 2002 made it easier for people to declare themselves bankrupt, which resulted in larger amounts of debts being written off.

Banks are also saying that people opting for Individual Voluntary Arrangements have played their part:

Individual voluntary arrangements, in particular, have had a huge impact on the numbers,” said Les Manning, a consultant at Deloitte. “IVA’s are the acceptable face of personal insolvency.

However, there has been a drop in the number of personal bankruptcies, so this does at least offer some ray of hope as more people are choosing the IVA route rather than going bankrupt.

Source: Reuters

Fraudsters encouraged by unused credit

Filed Under  Scams and Fraud Warnings, UK Debt News  |  Leave a Comment

Many fraudsters don’t need encouraging but we can make their job of stealing out identity easier. Fraud crime is growing in the UK and the costs caused by fraud rose by 30% to £1bn in 2005.

Having an account that still has credit available but is no longer monitored, leaves you very susceptible to being a victim of benefit fraud. There are 31.5 million people in the UK that hold on average 2.4 personal credit and store cards. 1 in 3 are no longer in use. There are numerous reasons why so many people have credit or store cards that are no longer in use, including, fogetting about the account, presuming the lender will cancel it if credit is no longer needed or someone dies and no one knows about the account.

This situation, as well as throwing away credit agreements that are no longer needed can encourage a fraudster to steal your identity. There is less chance of early detection and the process is relatively easy as the account is already set up. To stop fraudsters stealing your identity the following methods should be enforced:

  1. Check your credit file for all credit accounts
  2. Cancel all unused credit facilities
  3. Shred personal documents (anything with your account numbers or addresses) before throwing them away

If you become a victim of identity fraud it can take up to 300 hours work and cost £8,000 to clear your name. This should encourage us all to follow the necessary measures to ensure a fraudster can’t use our credit and steal our identity.

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