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Debt and Mental Health Money was the biggest single worry across the UK in 2012, with almost 50% of callers to the Samaritans naming it as their main cause for concern. May 20 2013 Read More
Further Hike in Energy Bills People should brace themselves for a massive rise in their energy bill this year. May 16 2013 Read More
Payday Lenders Have a Year To Clean Up Their Acts A group of payday lenders have appointed former chief executive of the Banking Code Standards Board, Seymour Fortescue, in order to help 'clean up' the industry. May 13 2013 Read More
Payday Loan Worries on the Rise Over twice as many people sought help about payday loans in 2012 than 2011. May 09 2013 Read More
Payday Loan Advert Banned Payday loan company, Cash Lady, has had their advert banned for encouraging a 'celebrity lifestyle' using 'fast cash'. May 09 2013 Read More
Housing Charity Calls Soar Housing charity, Shelter, has revealed that calls to its helpline have risen by 40% as the cost of living continues to rise. Apr 23 2013 Read More
Back to Basics I've been updating this site for years with general news and advice, money saving tips and all kinds of useful information. However, I believe that every now-and-then you should revisit the basics. Apr 22 2013 Read More
Minimum Wage Set To Rise The UK's national minimum wage is set to rise by 12p an hour for adults and 5p for 18-20 year olds. Apr 16 2013 Read More
Benefits Cap Starts Today The recently announced benefit cap is being rolled out across the country, begining with London. Apr 15 2013 Read More
Are You Savings Protected? It's natural to assume that should something happen your bank, your savings would be protected - however this is not always the case. Apr 10 2013 Read More
Reclaim Council Tax Band Errors The latest reclaim scheme from CMCs is council tax banding claims. Apr 08 2013 Read More
Personal Tax Allowance In a move that will see basic-rate taxpayers better off, George Osbourne announced that the personal tax allowance will rise to £10,000 from 2014. Mar 21 2013 Read More
Working Parents To Be Given Greater Childcare Support Many UK parents will be able claim up to £1,200 per year for each child - or 20% of childcare costs - from 2015. Mar 20 2013 Read More
Partial U-Turn on Bedroom Tax Iain Duncan Smith has announced a partial u-turn in the controversial 'bedroom tax'. Mar 13 2013 Read More
PPI Scandal Creates Over 20,000 Jobs More than 20,000 new jobs have been created to deal with the mis-selling of PPI. Mar 12 2013 Read More
OFT Clampdown on Payday Lenders The Office of Fair Trading have revealed a series of new restrictions on the controversial payday loan market. Mar 08 2013 Read More
Financial Education to be Taught in Schools Children in schools across England are to learn about the basics of budgeting and borrowing from next year. Mar 06 2013 Read More
PPI Complaints More Than Double The Financial Ombudsman Servive has reported that complaints regarding the mis-selling of payment protection insurance has risen by over double in the last half of 2012. Mar 05 2013 Read More
Year Long Debts A fifth of people questioned believe that they won't be able to pay off their debts fom 2012 at all this year. Feb 28 2013 Read More
Financial Disassociation The credit analysts, Experian MoneyExpert, have suggested that up to 6.8m Brits have suffered debt trouble due to relationships. Feb 27 2013 Read More
Lloyds Fined For PPI Repayment Delays The Lloyds banking group has been fined £4.3m for delaying it's repayments on mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). Feb 20 2013 Read More
TPS - Telephone Preference Service The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a centralised opt-out register, where you can log your details if you don't want any unsolicited sales calls. Feb 18 2013 Read More
Real Wages Haven't Changed in 10 Years! After years of pay freezes and steadily increasing inflation, the average UK worker now has the same 'real' wage as they did in 2003. Feb 15 2013 Read More
Work becoming less affordable New reports suggest that full-time workers are spending on average 12% of their disposable income on work. Feb 13 2013 Read More
Republic Gift Cards As news hits that the clothing store Republic could be going into administration today, we urge people to spend any gift vouchers they may have for the chain. Feb 13 2013 Read More
Bedroom Tax From April 2013, the controversial new Bedroom Tax, will come into force, this will cut the benefit entitlements of approximately 660,000 people.. Feb 12 2013 Read More
Water Bills to Rise By £388 The average household water and sewarage bill in the UK, will rise by 3.5% - around £388 - per year. Feb 05 2013 Read More
Can I Use My HMV Vouchers? With HMV going into administration, can you still use your HMV gift vouchers? Jan 21 2013 Read More
Cold Weather Payments Unlike the temperature, cold weather payments are set to soar. Jan 18 2013 Read More
Self-Assessment Tax Return The deadline for self-assessment tax returns is January 31st. Jan 15 2013 Read More
Cash Lady Payday Loans Ex-bankrupt Kerry Katona is the face of the new payday loan company, Cash Lady. Jan 09 2013 Read More
Child Benefit Tip Starting Monday, January 7, 2012, over a million families will have their child benefit reduced or cancelled completely. Jan 07 2013 Read More
Co-Op Fined in PPI Mis-Handling Case The Co-op has been fined £113,300 for failing to properly handle PPI cases in 2011. Jan 04 2013 Read More
Debt Day | D For Debt Day January 14 2012 has been dubbed 'Debt Day'. Jan 03 2013 Read More
Call For Living Wage There has been a recent call to raise the minimum wage to a so-called 'living wage' within the UK. Jan 03 2013 Read More
Happy New Year Happy New Year to all our clients! Jan 01 2013 Read More
£20K on Christmas New figures suggest that the average consumer spends over £20,000 on Christmas over their working life. Dec 13 2012 Read More
Personal Touch Debt Solutions | PTDS Personal Touch Debt Solutions are now part of Debt Free Me. Dec 12 2012 Read More
Transport Poverty 'Transport poverty' as rail fares rise three times faster than wages. Dec 12 2012 Read More
Payday Loans for Christmas Recent research from insolvency form, R3, has found that some consumers were considering taking out a payday loan to pay for Christmas. Dec 06 2012 Read More
Men Borrow £400 a Month Men borrow on average £381 per month to make ends meet, £100 more than women. Nov 29 2012 Read More
Payday Loans on the Rise New findings out today suggest that over a quarter of young adults are expected to take out a payday loan in the next six months. Nov 14 2012 Read More
Cert DR - Learner of the Year Our home debt advisor, Ravi Dutt, won this year's Cert DR Learner of the Year award. Nov 07 2012 Read More
Paid For Debt Advice Is Better At Reducing Debt Members of the Debt Resolution Forum (DRF) welcomed the publication of YouGov research for the Government-supported Money Advice Service (MAS) on the effectiveness of debt advice. Oct 23 2012 Read More
CCCS Rebrands to Step Change Debt Charity The Consumer Credit Counselling Service will change its name to Step Change Debt Charity. Oct 19 2012 Read More
British Gas to Raise Prices by 6% Average dual fuel bill will rise by £80 from November. Oct 12 2012 Read More
'Dire' Economy Making Workers Poorer Workers are, on average, £1,600 a year worse off than three years ago, according to new research. Oct 04 2012 Read More
Women in Charge of Household Finances In one of the least surprising studies of recent times, it has been revealed that women are now in charge of more household finances than men. Sep 28 2012 Read More
People Focussing on Paying Off Debts Outstanding loan amounts are now almost half of what they were in early 2008. Sep 27 2012 Read More
Save The Children Targets UK Save The Children, the charity that helps children in the poorest parts of the world, have launched a campaign to help children in the UK. Sep 07 2012 Read More
Banks Urged to Stop Charging for Machine Use High Street banks Lloyds TSB and RBS have recently come under fire by MPs for charging basic bank account holders for using rival machines. Sep 03 2012 Read More
Payday Lenders Launch Customer Code Payday lenders in the UK have agreed a new code of conduct in order to ensure that their customers are not caught out by 'hidden costs'. Jul 26 2012 Read More
Payday Loans for the Unemployed A large number of unemployed people are falling into the 'spiral od debt' due to payday loans. Jul 24 2012 Read More
Consumers Pay off Record Amounts of Debts Homeowners in the UK seem to be looking after the pennies more closely because a record amount of debt has been paid off. Jun 27 2012 Read More
People in Northern Ireland Struggle the Most with Debt Levels People living in Northern Ireland find it the most difficult to get out of debt, according to a recent survey. Findings by debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) reveal that the country is the leading UK region where people struggle with debt and the survey shows that the average client is £15,825 in debt. Jun 26 2012 Read More
Rising Cost of Food Is Biggest Contributing Factor to Debt Levels The majority of people are struggling to keep their finances in the black because of the rising cost of everyday essentials like food, according to a recent survey. Findings by R3, the insolvency trade body, reveal the shocking figures of debt levels in Yorkshire and Humber with 80% of people blaming increasing food costs for their low funds. Jun 05 2012 Read More
Rise in Colchester Citizens Taking Out Loans Nearly 700 people in Colchester sought debt advice last year concerning an average unsecured debt of £18,821. According to new figures released by debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), many families in Colchester, in Essex, are hard-up and are being forced into further debt. Jun 01 2012 Read More
Catalogue Debt Still a Problem Catalogue debt is still a major problem according debt charity. May 29 2012 Read More
Bogus PPI Claims Soar The Financial Ombudsman Service have claimed that almost 6,000 put in bogus PPI claims last year. May 22 2012 Read More
Payday Loans For Essentials A recent survey has found that almost 65% of people that take out payday loans use the cash for essentials such as household bills, food, nappies and petrol. May 21 2012 Read More
One Woman's £50,000 PPI Compensation A woman has claimed back £50,000 without using a claims company! May 16 2012 Read More
Lloyds put aside further £375m for PPI Lloyds Banking Group have reported that they have aside a further £375m to compensation for mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). May 01 2012 Read More
Reclaim PPI - No Fees! There is an advertising push to inform people that you don't need to pay a company to claim PPI - we've been saying this for ages. Apr 20 2012 Read More
Free Entry to National Trust Attractions Free Entry to National Trust Attractions - This Weekend Only (April 21 - 22) Apr 19 2012 Read More
Turn2Us Turn2Us is a charitable service which helps people access the money available to them – through welfare benefits, grants and other help. Apr 10 2012 Read More
DRF Welcomes New OFT Debt Management Guidance The Debt Resolution Forum today welcomed the OFT's publication of its revised Debt Management Guidance. Mar 22 2012 Read More
Minimum Wage Increase The government has announced that the national minimum wage will rise to £6.19 p/h in October. Mar 20 2012 Read More
DRF Welcomes BIS Report on Debt Management The Debt Resolution Forum welcomes the BIS select committee report on debt management. Mar 09 2012 Read More
Banks Contact PPI Victims Banks are ordered by the FSA to write to customers who they believe they have mis-sold PPI. Mar 06 2012 Read More
Payday Lenders To Be Investigated The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have announced that they will investigate the payday loan industry Feb 24 2012 Read More
PPI Pays Out £1.9bn in 2011 It has been revealed that £1.9bn was paid out by banks in 2011, to customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) Feb 23 2012 Read More
70% of Families On Brink of Poverty A survey by internet parenting site, NetMums, has found that 70% of UK families are financially on the brink of poverty, and could face serious financial difficulties should prices continue to rise. Feb 22 2012 Read More
Rise Of The Payday Lender A new report from PricewaterhouseCooper (PWC) states that although the number of people using credit cards is on the decline, the need for credit by consumers has seen the rise of the payday lender in its place. Feb 07 2012 Read More
£8,000 Unsecured Debt Per Household New reports from PricewaterhouseCooper (PWC) brings both good and bad news. Feb 01 2012 Read More
Debt Timebomb For Wales Around 30% of 18-34 year olds in Wales failed to meet bill and credit repayments in the past year, Consumer Focus Wales said. Jan 31 2012 Read More
PPI Complaints on the Rise The number of complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) rose by 10% in the final quarter of 2011, to 55,907 Jan 23 2012 Read More
National Standards for Enforcement Agents Today the Justice Minister unveiled the updated National Standards for Enforcement Agents which defines acceptable behaviour for bailiffs. Jan 13 2012 Read More
Loan Websites 'Mislead Customers' The European Commission could fine loan companies after a review found that many of their websites mislead customers by providing inccorect information and costs. Jan 11 2012 Read More
1.5m People Seek Debt Help Slightly over 1.5 million people sought help with their debts in 2011, this is up when compared to 2010, according to recent report from the Money Advice Trust. Jan 10 2012 Read More
No Overdraft Interest At Co-Op The Co-operative Bank has announced that it won't be charging interest on unauthorised overdrafts for the opening 3 months of 2012. Jan 04 2012 Read More
Most Debtors Ever - CAB According to the latest report from the Dumfries and Galloway branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), 2011 has seen record levels of debtors. Dec 15 2011 Read More
Payday Lenders Facing Penalties The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is taking action against payday lenders who are breaking the guidance on online advertising in the run-up to Christmas. Dec 14 2011 Read More
A Third Of Brits In Debt Over Christmas 31% of the of Britain's adult population will go into debt paying for Christmas this year, according to a new YouGov survey. Dec 12 2011 Read More
Full and Final Settlements About full and final settlements. Dec 08 2011 Read More
Family Christmas At Least £182 The cheapest a family with two children can have an 'acceptable' Christmas is £182 Dec 07 2011 Read More
Lloyds Delay PPI Payment - Again! Lloyds TSB, has sparked customer fury after revealing further delays in payment in PPI compensation. Dec 02 2011 Read More
Credit Reports A basic guide on credit reports and ratings. Dec 01 2011 Read More
Christmas Delivery Dates 2011 Last order dates for Christmas from the top online retailers. Nov 29 2011 Read More
OFT Publish Credit Broker Guidance The OFT has published new guidance setting out the standards it expects from credit brokers. Nov 28 2011 Read More
Christmas Not Affordable For Many Survey found that almost one third of families questioned couldn't "afford to buy presents and pay for celebrations this year". Nov 22 2011 Read More
Another Price Blow For BT Customers BT is planning another price increase to come into force on December 3, this one however was not announced with the previous hike announcements in August Nov 15 2011 Read More
PPI Gets Taxed If you've reclaimed Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), then you could receive an unexpected tax bill. Nov 14 2011 Read More
Payday Loans Warning Almost half of people struggling with debt say their problems are a result of payday loans. Oct 27 2011 Read More
DRF responds to Yvonne Fovargue, MP, on recommending free debt advice MP calls for ruling to require fee charging debt management companies to inform clients of the availability of free debt advice. Oct 20 2011 Read More
Debt Collectors Use Social Media To Get Money Back The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned debt collectors not to chase people who owe them money on websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Oct 19 2011 Read More
PPI Complaints to Ombudsman Drop The number of complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI) being taken to the Financial Ombudsman Serive (FOS) has seen a sharp drop. Oct 18 2011 Read More
MPs Question ATM Charges Two of the UK's largest banks have been told to justify their restrictions on basic bank account customers using rivals' cash machines. Oct 11 2011 Read More
Cheapest Gas & Electricity Bill Reaches £1,000 For the first time in the UK, the cheapest energy deal has risen above £1,000 per year. Oct 05 2011 Read More
Stigma of Debt Lessening More people than ever are telling partners about debt levels Sep 28 2011 Read More
Coupon Misuse Clampdown A woman was cautioned by police for attempting to re-use a money-saving coupon at her local branch of Sainsbury's. Sep 26 2011 Read More
Tesco's Major Price-Cutting Initiative Britain's biggest supermarket chain, is expected to launch a major price-cutting initiative this weekend. Sep 22 2011 Read More
Cost Of Dying On The Up The average cost of death is now £7,248, including headstone and funeral, the same figure as three months' average salary in the UK. Sep 14 2011 Read More
Childcare Costs Driving Parents Into Debt Over half of questioned parents are being driven into debt by rising childcare costs. Sep 08 2011 Read More
Cutbacks Hurt Citizens Advice Bureau The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) have recently revealed that cutbacks in local government spending has led to fewer people being able to use the service. Sep 06 2011 Read More
PPI Backlog Almost Clear Banks have cleared around 95% of their massive backlog of complaints regarding mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). Sep 02 2011 Read More
BT Price Hike - And What To Do About It On the third of December this year, BT is to increases charges for residential customers by 5% - the third time in fourteen months. Aug 30 2011 Read More
PPI Complaints To Continue Rising Barclays Bank has said that it expects complaints about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) to continue to rise after a 93% increase in the first six months of 2011. Aug 26 2011 Read More
RBS Bans Its Customers From Rival Cash Machines The Royal Bank of Scotland has decided upon the disgraceful act of banning its users of their free basic bank account from using rival companies' cash machines. Aug 19 2011 Read More
Borrowing From Family On The Up The Consumer Credit Counselling Service> (CCCS) recently highlighted the trend of borrowing money from friends and family in order to other debts, with almost 1-in-5 people doing so. Aug 17 2011 Read More
Mis-Selling PPI Cost Santander £540m The UK arm of Santander recently reported that it has set aside more than half a billion pounds to pat back customers to which they have mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Jul 28 2011 Read More
Fuel Poverty Rising The annual fuel poverty report published by DECC is out of date and out of touch with reality, failing to tell the full story about the UK's current fuel poverty crisis, according to uSwitch.com. Jul 20 2011 Read More
OFT Investigates Websites Selling Official Services The Office of Fair Trading has vowed to investigate websites that are charging fees for Government services that have little or no fees. Jul 15 2011 Read More
DRF Announces New Measures For Members The Debt Resolution Forum (DRF) has announced new measures for its members to undertake to improve standards in the debt management sector, following a consultation launched by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Jul 12 2011 Read More
Bank Account Switches To Be Made Easier The Payment Council has this week pledged to make it easier for consumers to switch accounts from one bank to another, in the hope that it will encourage competition between banks, thereby getting a better deal for the consumers. Jul 07 2011 Read More
Man Behaving Badly Actor Neil Morrissey is half way through a 3 year IVA to repay over £1m. Jun 22 2011 Read More
UK's Debt Hotspots Recent research shows the areas of the UK with the largest personal debt. Jun 21 2011 Read More
Barclays to Settle PPI Claims Barclays has said that it will pay out compensation to everyone who it mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance and placed a complaint before April 20. Jun 13 2011 Read More
Half of UK Not Saving Enough For Retirement Nearly half (49%) of UK workers are not putting enough money away to provide for them during retirement, and one in five are not saving anything at all. Jun 07 2011 Read More
PPI Creates Financial Complaints Record The Financial Ombudsman Service received a record 206,000 complaints in the last financial year, 51% of these relating to the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). May 19 2011 Read More
DRF Welcomes Super-complaint on Cold Calling Debt Resolution Forum (DRF) members welcomed CAB's super-complaint to the OFT regarding cold calling and upfront fees. May 10 2011 Read More
Credit Card Interest Rates Set To Rise May 04 2011 Read More
Avon Lady Reaches One Million Lady reaches £1 million from Avon 3 years after being in serious debt. Apr 12 2011 Read More
Marriage is the 'Road to Ruin' With the Royal Wedding just around the corner, many couples will be looking at the lavish celebration for ideas for their own weddings. But dreams of a 'fairy tale' wedding are landing us in debt. Mar 22 2011 Read More
Debts Before Pets A frankly shocking report by Sainsbury's Finance showed that 56% of vets questioned had been asked to terminate pets' lives rather owners having to pay costly cures. Mar 10 2011 Read More
135,000 Insolvent in 2010 135,000 people were declared insolvent in 2010, the highest since 1960. Feb 09 2011 Read More
Don't Sell Your Smart Phone The number of people selling smart phones has risen 70% in the previous year. Jan 26 2011 Read More
Shop Around For Loans Although we at Debt Free Me advise against taking out a loan if at all possible, we know that a loan can often be the best solution to many financial problems. With this in mind we are urging you to shop around and get yourself the best loan possible. Jan 10 2011 Read More
Millions Taking on More Debt According to latest reports, more than 4 million Britons are resorting to paying their bills by credit card, thereby falling even further into debt. The report also shows that people are running out of money earlier in the month, lasting just 19 days before running out of money, a day earlier than last year. Jan 05 2011 Read More
Insolvencies Set To Soar The number of people claiming insolvencies is set to sky-rocket, according industry experts. The Insolvency Service's latest report shows that there were 33,935 individual insolvencies in England and... Nov 10 2010 Read More
Britons Using Savings To Pay Off Debts Britons are dipping into their savings to pay off debts Nov 05 2010 Read More
Two-Thirds of Britons Ashamed of Debt Two thirds of Britons are embarrassed to talk about their debts according to a recent survey by uSwitch. Nov 03 2010 Read More
OFT Warns Consumers About Debt Write-Off Industry This weekend the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) issued a warning to consumers that businesses claiming to use sections 77 - 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 are misleading them. Oct 20 2010 Read More
Loss of Income Still Main Reason for Debt in UK Latest reports have revealed that loss of income is still the number one reason for debt problems in the UK. Oct 13 2010 Read More
6 Million Credit Card Users Leave Outstanding Debt for More Than a Year It has recently been revealed that over 6 million Brits have had an outstanding credit card balance for more than a year, according to report from moneysupermarket.com. Oct 12 2010 Read More
Child Benefit Decision 2013 Recently the Chancellor, George Osborne, revealed that as of 2013 Child benefits would be cut from families where at least one member was a higher-rate tax payer. Oct 05 2010 Read More
129 Debt Management Firms Ordered to Clean Up Their Act The Office of Fair Trading has ordered 129 Debt Management Companies to clean up their act. Sep 28 2010 Read More
Cash For Gold As people's debt problems mount, they become increasingly desperate for money. A recent business model that has sprung up out of this desperation is the cash for gold companies. Sep 27 2010 Read More
Payday Loans According to latest reports, more and more people are turning to pay day loans as they run out of money towards the end of the month. Sep 16 2010 Read More
7 Million British "Shopaholics" Urged To Curb Spending According to a recent survey, there are 7 million "shopaholics" in the UK, 4million of which are women, unsurprisingly! Aug 31 2010 Read More
Over Half of Self-Employed Debtors Unable to Afford Help A debt charity has said it was unable to help around half of all self-employed people who contacted it. Aug 31 2010 Read More
The Rise of Students Seeking Postgraduate Debt Relief Methods of debt relief such as debt relief orders and even IVAs may be in 'high demand among students after they finish their university courses'. Aug 31 2010 Read More