Debt

The introduction of the universal credit benefit is "a terrible move for financial inclusion" for those who struggle to manage their monthly budgets, according to MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis, who has told Parliament that ring-fencing should be introduced to protect vulnerable people.

Debt purchase and collections company Motormile Finance UK has agreed to provide redress to more than 500,000 customers by writing off £414 million of debt and making repayments of £154,000 for historic failings in its due diligence and collections process.

People experiencing money troubles could soon benefit from up to a year's 'breathing space' from the drivers of worsening debt if new legal proposals get the go-ahead.

I'll never forget three women coming to speak to me, by chance one after another, after an Ideal Home Show talk. All were in their 40s-50s, all had lost their husbands in the last few months, and all were desperate: "I'm in dire straits, where do I start?"

Charities have united in a new campaign from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, chaired by MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis, to stop NHS doctors charging people with mental health problems up to £150 to fill in a form crucial for them to get debt help.

Forced installations of prepay energy meters for those in debt with their supplier could be banned for the most vulnerable customers, Ofgem has proposed.

Charity StepChange received a record number of requests for help with problem debts between January and June this year, it has revealed.

The falling value of people's earnings since 2007 has left 3.2 million households in "problem debt," spending at least a quarter of their earnings on repayments, while 1.6m of these in the most "extreme" type of debt are losing at least 40% to repayments, a report published today has warned.

There's a credit card punch-up going on. In the last eight weeks, 10 new table-topping balance transfers have launched. We've covered the key blows in this email, but now I want to calmly take you through step-by-step how to use this price war to save large, like Jill:

Credit card companies lack incentives to help customers struggling with persistent debt, the Financial Conduct Authority has found – and it proposes new 'customer alerts' to signal the end of promotional periods as part of a package of remedies.