Debts Hit Middle Classes

Filed Under  Consumer News, Debt Question of the Week?, Financial News, Grantham, IVA News, Payplan Media Release, Payplan Press Release, Personal Finance, Press Releases, Scams and Fraud Warnings, UK Debt News, Website Updates  |  Leave a Comment

Debt Crisis Hits Middle Classes

Free debt solutions service, Payplan, has responded to this weekend’s national press coverage focusing on the increase in enquiries for debt advice from the middle classes.

Debt advisers at the service have been speaking to many families and individuals with high incomes, but whose debt has reached breaking point.

Debt Affordability Decreases

Payplan’s managing director, John Fairhurst, said:

“Our clients are really feeling the pain of the rising costs. Householders’ budgets are being squeezed as the cost of food, fuel and energy bills reaches ever higher levels. A direct result of this is that the affordability of their debt burden is at an all time low.”

Free Debt Advice

Call Payplan free on 0800 917 7823 six days a week to speak with an experienced debt adviser. Lines are open 8am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm on Saturdays. Alternatively get debt advice online

Child Benefit - 25 million peoples’ records lost

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

Fraud Alert

UK families receiving Child Benefit have been urged to remain ‘vigilant’ and to report any unusual activity from their personal bank accounts to their bank.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) yesterday admitted losing 15 million records of Child Benefit recipients containing the personal data of 25 million individuals, including National Insurance numbers, children’s names and addresses and Bank Account details.

Two computer discs, which held the data of all parents with children under 16 years of age, went missing through their internal postal system. For further information, HMRC have set up a Child Benefit Helpline on 0845 302 1444

Second Hand PC Scam

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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

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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