Online Payment Tracking Preview

Filed Under  Website Updates  |  Leave a Comment

justabank.gif

Clients who enter into a Payplan Debt Management Plan have access to the unique website, Justabank. The site allows clients to track their payments online and contact their own personal case officer. Payplan are the only free debt mangement company that gives clients the opportunity to track payments online. There has been a new page put on the main Payplan site, which previews the Justabank site. For a guide on how the Justabank website works and the benefits it offers, view the Justabank preview page.

Reasons For Debt

Filed Under  Website Updates  |  Leave a Comment

A whole new section has been added to the Payplan website, which explains many of the reasons why our clients and others experience problems with their debts. People often feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask for help with their debt, so Payplan want to make it as easy as possible. Having the new section on the Payplan website aims to encourage those experiencing difficulties to pick up the phone and contact Payplan for free advice. Payplan can help anyone in debt regardless of the cause.

Reasons for Debt

CCJs increase, but is it just down to increased borrowing?

Filed Under  UK Debt News  |  Leave a Comment

CCJ’s were issued to an incredible 573,321 people in 2005. ”One in 11 adults have County Court Judgements(CCJ’s) registered against them in England and Wales.”

The first reason that springs to mind as to why CCJs are increasing is because consumer borrowing has reached a record high. Debt has become much more widespread with almost 2 million people in the UK owing more than 10K. Half a million households are exeperiencing serious financial difficulties, which may result in them being issued with CCJs. This may be a reason for the increase in CCJs but there are other factors to consider.For Example:

Judgements can now be issued to those who fail to pay road tax so the DVLA policy may be a contributing factor to the increase. The Registy Trust records CCJs and they believe 18,000 judgements each month in 2005 came from the new DVLA policy.

Lenders are now resorting back to issuing CCJs in an effort to recover funds they have lent. This too could be a factor and a reason why CCJs have generally increased.

An article published on the This Is Money website revealed that your chance of receiving a CCJ can be increased depending on where you live. According to new reasearch by MyCall credit living in Yorkshire and The Midlands means you are more likely to be issued with a CCJ. Places within commuting distance of London have some of the lowest levels of CCJ registrations, which is surprising given that the cost of living near London is far greater than the rest of the UK. This may not have increased the overall CCJ registration but is a very interesting observation.

In conclusion there are many contributing factors as to why CCJs have increased and isn’t just because consumer borrowing is on the rise. The increase in CCjs is a growing concern and highlights the fact that people’s ability to service their debt is diminishing.

Free debt advice and solutions are available, even with a CCJ. Please contact Payplan today for instant advice.

Credit Card Charges

Filed Under  UK Debt News  |  Leave a Comment

This invesitgation by the Office of Fair Trading has been going on for the past 2 years and they have finally said that charges on credit cards should no longer exceed £12, which is less than half the amount inccured at the moment. They believe this to be a fair amount. Consumers have been paying more than £300m a year on ‘unlawful’ charges according to the BBC news. Default charges incurred on overdrafts, mortgages and store cards could also soon be lowered as they are invited by the OFT to review their changes.

The OFT wrote to eight major credit card companies last year to inform them of their feelings that the charges were too high. The OFT produced a statement that outlines principles they think the credit card companies should follow to set default charges. These principles are not only to protect consumers from incurring high charges but also to make the banks compete fairly by offering low default charges.

The following reasons may result in default charges:

  • Late repayments
  • Exceeding credit limit
  • Repayments that bounce

The credit card companies reasoning behind charging these ridiculous fees are because the customers are demanding 0% interest card deals. The credit card companies stand to lose more than £1.5bn if they reduce their late payment fees. They argue the late fees they charge are fair and lawful as do the Association of Payment Clearing Services (Apacs), who represents credit card firms.

cards.bmpThe £12 charge should cover the administration costs involved when a client defaults. They feel the current figure is unfair, as it requires consumers to pay more than if the court sued them for breach of contract. There is no suggestion that setting the £12 default fee will be suitable in all situations and all circumstances should be taken into consideration. The OFT feels that if the charge is above £12 they will investigate the reason behind the high default charge. Critics believe the reduced charges are still too high as the costs involved when the customer defaults is much less than £12.

The choices available to the credit card companies are:

  • Continue to charge the excessive fees and call the bluff of the OFT and face the fee being challenged in court.
  • Reduce their charges to the recommended level of £12.

The OFT realise that the credit card companies will need time to adjust to these charges as it is expected to be a lengthy process and costly, as IT systems and other changes will be needed. The OFT feel that asking them to reduce their default charges will be sufficient enough to encourgage them to make the changes and will also bring a quicker benefit to consumers. Although they will consider further action if the credit card companies fail to make sufficent changes within a reasonable time frame.

They have until the end of May 2006 to make their decision regarding reducing their default charges.

If your are experiencing default charges Contact Payplan for free impartial debt advice, who can also help negotiate freezing your interest and charges.

keep looking »