As part of the bank’s bid to encourage responsible borrowing, anyone repaying their loan in full by the due date will receive 25 per cent of the interest paid back, regardless of loan size. Joe Garner, head of UK personal…

Through its Financial Skills for Life programme, young parents, care leavers, mental health service users and refugees have been trained to be better equipped to head off potential debt problems. “Many people have poor financial skills and it is in…

Anyone using the shop @ Argos card will find that the debt on it will build up and that they must repay the money owed at a massive rate. It is provided by Provident Financial and can only be used…

Drew Wotherspoon, of mortgage brokers John Charcol, said that there can be hidden costs in taking on a mortgage, particularly if borrowers switch providers. “Buyers tend to get caught up in the excitement of choosing a new home and run…

Tim Sleep, director of retail at Ernst & Young, said that disposable income levels are ten per cent lower than just five years ago yet people are borrowing more. “Access to debt, both in credit cards and mortgages, it’s certainly…

Wiltshire mechanic Richard Cullen, 65, had 22 credit cards with debt, four of which were issued by the Bank of Scotland who were owed £35,000. Seymour Fortescue, chief executive of regulators the Banking Code Standards Board, said he found the…

With calls for more research into gambling problems, medics at a British Medical Association conference labelled the habit a “social poison”. “Gambling addiction is as corrosive as drug addiction and alcoholism in terms of family break-up and financial ruin. It…