Loans

Ratesetter is to shut all 45,000 existing investor accounts on 2 April and all of Ratesetter's loans will be transferred to Metro Bank from the same date. Both of these changes are taking place after Metro Bank bought Ratesetter last September. 

Student tuition fees in England are set to be frozen for another year under new plans put forward by the Government today.

More than 100,000 people overpaid student loans in the last year alone as they were recorded as being on the wrong loan plan, a MoneySavingExpert.com Freedom of Information request has revealed. Many can likely reclaim £100s or even £1,000s. 

HSBC, First Direct, M&S Bank and John Lewis Finance borrowers who have fallen behind on repayments between 2010 and 2019 may get up to £100 in compensation after receiving a substandard level of service – and it's not a scam, despite some confusion caused by letters arriving out of the blue.    HSBC Group, which all four brands come under, says in an internal review it uncovered instances where customers in arrears hadn't received the quality of service it expected, and it's decided to put this right. HSBC wouldn't confirm exactly what it did wrong or who is impacted but said examples of bad practice included poorly worded letters that didn't engage customers who might have been struggling to make repayments.  Regulator the Financial Conduct Authority generally defines credit arrears as any shortfall in one or more payments due, while for home mortgages it's a shortfall equivalent to two or more regular payments. HSBC has confirmed this issue affects all types of consumer banking products where you could fall behind with repayments, from mortgages to personal loans to credit cards.  The banking group wouldn't tell us how many customers are in line for a payout but as it has 14 million active UK customers across the four brands, even if just 1% were affected that would amount to 140,000 people – plus, there are those who have already closed accounts on top. Read our Debt Help guide if you're struggling. 

A huge number of graduates and other student loan borrowers repaid over £100 million more than they needed to last year, new figures obtained by MoneySavingExpert.com reveal. The vast majority of this cash hasn't been claimed back – but if you've overpaid, the good news is it's easy to reclaim.

MoneySavingExpert.com is today slamming "irresponsible and dangerous" changes made by the Student Loans Company to its website, which fly in the face of evidence and recommendations presented to both it and the Government.

Some high-cost credit firms are allowing repeated borrowing which puts consumers at risk of building up high levels of debt, and using marketing messages that suggest customers can borrow extra money in order to fund exotic holidays, a review by the financial regulator has found.

Sainsbury's Bank has brought in strict new lending restrictions which mean it is no longer issuing new credit cards or loans to anyone who's self-employed, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal. 

The financial regulator has announced it will ban commission models that give car finance dealers an incentive to raise customers' costs from next year.

The financial regulator has confirmed further measures to support borrowers struggling to make payments on car finance deals, buy-now-pay-later agreements and other credit products due to the coronavirus pandemic, with many able to get another three-month payment holiday if needed.