Industry Insights

Most consumer credit firms treat a failed collection as the start of the arrears process. In reality, it is the end of a payments process, often one never designed. Lenders lose a meaningful share of otherwise good repayments not because customers can’t pay, but because the payment was presented at the wrong moment, to a dead card, or re-attempted against …

The FCA might have paused parts of the motor finance redress scheme, but the claimant industry certainly has not. While lenders have been given more time to prepare, claims management companies still have the same commercial incentive to generate claims.

When I stepped into the role of Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) CEO in March 2026, one thing hit me immediately: the UK debt landscape is full of brilliant, committed people – advisers, creditors, lenders, regulators, collectors, utilities, enforcement professionals, fintech innovators, researchers – working hard to improve outcomes for people in problem debt. But too often, that work can …

The UK lending landscape is undergoing a significant transformation as financial institutions face rising consumer demand, evolving regulations and increasing pressure to improve financial inclusion. According to insights in “LexisNexis Risk Solutions – Untapped Lending Report”, traditional credit data, long the backbone of lending decisions, may no longer be sufficient. In response, lenders are turning to alternative data to build …

In regulated financial services, the familiar pattern persists: a product team develops an idea, maps the customer journey, defines the experience, and only then asks compliance to review it. By that stage, the most important decisions are usually already made. That model is increasingly outdated. In consumer credit, where products directly affect people’s financial wellbeing, compliance cannot be treated as …

The debt collection sector is undergoing a period of transition. Macro-economic conditions remain challenging and, although rising insolvencies and surging energy arrears are driving greater volumes of unpaid debt to agencies, recovery rates have slowed due to mounting regulatory pressures and concerns about arrears portfolio quality.

Fifty-two years ago, Parliament handed the consumer credit industry a rulebook. The Consumer Credit Act 1974 was prescriptive, paper-based, and built for a world of hire-purchase agreements and high-street finance houses and it has governed our market ever since. On 18 May 2026, HM Treasury confirmed what many of us have anticipated for years: that rulebook is being fundamentally rewritten.

For most people, rent is the single biggest bill they pay every month. It is the payment that keeps a roof over their head. It is the commitment they prioritise above almost everything else. It is often larger than a mortgage payment would be. Yet despite this, millions of renters across Britain receive little or no credit for making those …

For as long as most of us can remember, quality assurance in collections and customer service has been a numbers game, and not a flattering one. A typical team reviews somewhere between 2 to 5% of its calls. The other 95% go unheard, filed away in case something goes wrong. We have quietly accepted that we don’t really know what …

The FCA’s new regulatory guide for credit brokers may look, at first glance, like a simple practical guide for smaller firms. It is aimed mainly at brokers with fewer than ten employees and does not create any new rules. But, as with many FCA publications, the real value sits in what it tells us about the regulator’s current thinking and …

The scrutiny surrounding discretionary commissions has had a profound effect on the motor finance industry. Beyond the financial repercussions, it has undeniably impacted consumer trust. In light of these challenges, restoring confidence within the sector must be a shared priority.

We are witnessing a fundamental shift in consumer buying and borrowing behaviour that requires us to look deeper into the nuances of household resilience and consumer affordability. Traditional scores and affordability models aren’t always enough.