For updated information surrounding the Coronavirus please check the government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus Coronavirus: FCA announces payment freezes on motor finance, buy-now pay-later, rent-to-own and pawnbroking New measures announced by the Financial Conduct Authority came into force on 27 April to help those struggling to meet payments for motor finance, buy-now pay-later payments, rent-to own […]
Water and sewerage bills set to fall by about £17 a year Water UK, the industry trade body, said the average annual bill would fall by 4% to £396.60 from 1 April. Regulator Ofwat said the drop was because it had demanded efficiency from firms. In December it told the water companies they would have […]
End of paper prescription service Electronic prescriptions are currently used by 70 per cent of surgeries in the UK, but from November the system will be rolled out nationally with a completion date of next summer. A patient can opt to have their medication details sent directly from the doctors to a local nominated pharmacy […]
New report by Citizens Advice shows benefit claimants struggling to meet essential costs New data from national Citizens Advice reveals that almost one in two (49%) benefits claimants have struggled to pay for essentials, while 40% have lost sleep due to money worries. Two in five (39%) of people who claim have less than £100 […]
Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman about how banks handle fraud claims According to figures produced by the Financial Ombudsman, the bank customers complained about most regarding the handling of fraud claims was Natwest. Trial of extended job centre opening hours Job centres in seven areas will trial extended opening hours to support those who are […]
“Robot” Helplines Research by tech experts Webhelps shows that automated “chatbots” are now used by some of the UK’s biggest banks, utilities and online retailers to answer customer complaints, queries over bills or switching accounts. But 45% of users find the systems unhelpful and impersonal and most would prefer to speak to a human. Other […]
HMRC leads number spoofing crackdown to prevent fraud Telephone fraudsters pretending to be from the tax office have been blocked from spoofing HMRC numbers. The fraudsters would manipulate the caller number display to show real HMRC phone numbers to trick people into believing the call was genuine. Since April, HMRC has put a block on […]