Over the next few weeks, I'll be concentrating a little bit more on making this debt management blog as informative as possible.  Between me and Alan for the last couple of months, we've covered quite a few different topics, all with debt as a common theme running through - but we do tend to get a little sidetracked!!!

We've covered everything from Student debt to Gambling debt, Local authorities, Bankruptcy, Mortgage arrears, Payday Loans, Relationship counselling - and plenty of statistics for nerdy people like me!

So, in amongst all the debt related news blogs, We'll also be writing short informative debt blogs on all aspects of debt counselling. 

If you can't wait to read our views, then do take a look at some of the pages on the rest of the website where there is plenty more useful information - and of course you can always call one of our debt counsellors on 01424 777156 if you prefer the more personal approach!

The current financial climate has claimed many great 'scalps' over the last few months, with Banks taking the brunt of the problems.  But with the decrease in the amount of lending available, is it causing a stretch on 'The Bank of Mum and Dad'?

Tightened lending criteria has led to an increase in the amounts of money being borrowed by young adults from their parents and grandparents.  Over 50% of the 20.7m Britons who have children over 16 have leant considerable sums to them.  An average of £12000 has been loaned, and 'Mum and Dad' expect this to double.

Many parents are dipping into their life savings, retirement pots or even remortgaging their property to do this.  38% of those questioned said that the money was to help pay off debts, and 30% cited finding a deposit for a home as the reason for the loan.

If you are worried about debt, call MRA Debt Help to speak to one of our debt counsellors on 01424 777156 for free debt advice

Following  customer complaints in 2008, the Office of Fair Trading has been investigating the debt collection procedures followed by 1st credit and its associated companies.  It has invoked a number of requirements upon 1st credit, who now have to report to the OFT every 6 months.  If they fail to comply with any of the requirements, they may be fined £50,000 for each occurrence.

Complaints had been recieved about 1st credits questionable debt collection practices through the Citizens Advice Bureaux and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service.  The OFT's investigation into st credit included these complaints, along with the business practices of companies in the 1st credit group, following an applicaion to ammend an associated companies licence.

The main failings highlighted by the OFT are the ways in which 1st credit would issue statutory demands, and threaten bankruptcy proceedings even if it was unlikely that proceedings would start.  They have also told the firm not to discuss legal action with consumers unless there is a good likelihood that they will initiate them.

Various debt advice charities have raised concerns over 1st credits debt collection techniques, suggesting that the company engages in harassment of its debtors.  The OFT has told the firm to address this, along with the way it deals with vulnerable customers, e.g. thos that have mental health or medical problems.

If you are in need of any form of debt help, or you are worried about harassment from your creditors, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 for free debt advice.

The Phantom - a purple jumpsuit wearing superhero, who calls up 'the strength of ten tigers' - and now also a mysterious disappearing mortgage deal.

Frustrated borrowers have recently had mortgage deals rejected at the last minute, even witha great credit history, high salaries or stable incomes.  The common theme has been the loan to value rate. Most of the so-called Phantom Mortgage Offers have been those for consumers with less than a 15% deposit.  These high loan to value mortgages seem to be there in name, yet almost impossible to get.

The mortgage market is tighter and tighter, with even prime, high income consumers struggling to achieve an offer - now that doesnt give much hope for the sub-prime, bed credit mortgage consumers! 

It is now apparent that even with good a credit rating, a minimum of 15-20% deposit is going to be helpful to people wanting to make a first move onto the property ladder.

All this, and at the same time, Gordon Brown calls for a ban on 100% mortgages!  Wake up Mr Brown!  If anyone has recently managed to get a 100% mortgage on a new home then get in touch!

If you need any debt advice, on secured or unsecured loans, then call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156, and one of our Debt Counsellors will be pleased to help.

A report by personal finance charity Pfeg has shown that British children have more financial awareness than their parents did at the same age.

The poll of 1400 people has shown that early exposure to various financial issues, including credit cards and debit cards has lead to children's greater awareness.  The average pocket money recieved by children has increased to £6.32, compared with an figure equivalent to £3.77 recieved by their parents.

The internet has proved to be one catalyst in this area, with children now using their parents credit or debit card to make purchases online, including computer games, books and music.  40% of children aged 7-15 polled, had bought ringtones for their mobile phone (the average age at which children get their first one is now 8!), and 25% had voted in tv competitions.  (I'm not sure how many have complained to ITV about competition fixing though!).

Cheif Executive of Pfeg, Wendy Van Den Hende said - "Many of the children involved in this study told us that making financial decisions helps them to feel more in control of their lives and it is precisely this positive, independent spirit that will supprot them in becoming effective money managers and responsible spenders as they grow up.

Its up to us to nurture this spirit by teaching them the skills to handle money with confidence."

If you need any debt advice, whether it be credit cards or any other form of debt, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 where one of our Debt Counsellors will be happy to help.

The Office Of Fair Trading licence debt management companies in the UK, and have said this week that they will be cracking down on the recent "rash" of bogus debt management adverts.

The adverts in question make several very misleading statements, which have worried the OFT.  They make claims such as, "we'll get your credit cards written off in 6 weeks", "80% of credit agreements are unenforcable" and "we have a 100% success rate". 

The Ministry of Justice, working in partnership with the OFT, have said that companies making such statements could face closure and fines of up to £50'000.

If you are in need of debt help and don't know what to do with your credit cards, then call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156where one of our debt counsellors can advice you on the most suitable route for you.

Experian, the global information service, and one of the UK's biggest credit reference agencies has produced its annual business debt and insolvency statistics for 2008.

It shows a 30% increase on the numbers of business failures on 2007, totalling 23,879 for the year.  7,238 (30%) of these came in the last 3 months of the year.  The whole country has felt the squeeze of the recession, as all 14 regions that are monitored by Experian showed an increase, with the north-west suffering a 41% increase in the numbers of businesses succumbing to their business debts.

Whilst voluntary liquidations are still the most common form of business failure, there was an increase of 143% in the number of receiverships in 2008.  This is a sign of the tighter lending shown by banks in the current climate, making it harder for businesses to continue trading, and make repayments on their business debts

If you are struggling with business or personal debts, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156, where one of our debt counsellors can give free independent debt advice tailored to your situation.

Egg revealed yesterday that the interest rates on their credit cards will increase for over half a million customers - one fifth of the total.  This comes within weeks of consecutive Bank of England rate cuts, and as government crackdown on interest rates.

3.7 million people across the country are struggling to make credit card repayments, and 1 million people are failing to make mortgage payments because of it.  It is these type of customers, those who need debt help and advice, rather than exorbitant charges and interest rates, that will fare worst from Eggs new interest rates.

Instead of being offered debt management help, the highest risk customers - those most likely to default - are having their rates uppped by an average of 4.39 percentage points.  Some will see a 5 percentage point increase. 

If you are struggling to meet paymanets on your credit card, loans or have any other debt problems, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 to speak to one of our debt counsellors

A Times report this week has given damning evidence against Natwest's 'Moneysense' advisors.  Whilst the report has been labelled 'obvious' by some, it provides a good insight into the service and advice that could be expected from someone in need of debt advice seeking help from a moneysense advisor.

The 'impartial' moneysense advisors were visited by staff from the Times, posing as either a heavily indebted freelance graphic designer, or a first time buyer with a sizeable deposit.  The first time buyer was pushed into the direction of Natwest's mortgage advisers in 66% of cases,  after being told that Natwest's mortgages were among the most competitive on the market.  In one case, he was told that moneysense was only available to the poorest of customers, and pushed towards the mortgae sales representative.

The more worrying aspect is the treatment of the graphic designer looking for debt mangement advice.  One moneysense advisor suggested that he should save money for a year (in a Natwest account of course) and then pay a lump sum off of his debts.  This is not a good idea, especially with current savings rates so low! 

Another moneysense advisor suggested that a debt consolidation loan would be suitable, which of course Natwest could supply!  In Hammersmith, it was suggested that Payment protection insurance (PPI) would benefit the freelance graphic designer.  Most PPI policies do not pay out to those working on a freelance basis, and therefore would be unlikely to help in the repaying of his credit card debts!

The Times are not alone in their condemnation of the moneysense advisors.  Both the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have received complaints about moneysense, and the ASA is considering investigating the matter fully.  The FSA would not comment further.

If you are looking for impartial free debt advice then call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 where one of our debt counsellors can offer free debt advice

According to Bloglines, which is a leading authority on all things 'bloggy'  (I can't believe I just used the word Bloggy!)  MRA Debt Helps Debt Management Blog now has over 630 subscribers via our RSS feed.

Its great to know so many people are interested in keeping up to date on all things related to debt management.  Admitting you need debt help or advice is the first step to the road to debt recovery, and hopefully our blogs prove an interesting read.

I have been told that the number of subscribers could be higher, perhaps everybody is waiting to read Keith's review of the debt management thriller 'Never Never' by David Gaffney? - (hint hint Keith!)

If you are looking for debt advice of any kind, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 to speak to one of our debt counsellors.

The government has announced it will hand out £40m to charities hit by the recession this year.  Met with mixed reviews, the package is alot less than had been requested by charities facing debts and job cuts.

Shelter, and the NSPCC have both made job cuts in recent months, and it is estimated that one in 3 charities will have to lay off staff in the next few months.  The idea of a financial package to help them is obviously a great one, but unfortunately too little, too late. 

The number of charities that are likely to benefit from the payout is small, and more money may be needed to keep them afloat.  Charities held crisis talks with ministers 3 months ago, requesting £500m, stating that a minimum of £100m would be needed to keep 'vital services' running.

At a time when £500bn has been spent on bailing out the banking sector, with the prospect of billions being paid out in bonuses, the offer of less than 10% requested by the charity sector is ridiculous.  The figure requested by charities is 1/1000th that thrown at the banks. 

If you are struggling with any type of debts, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156 to speak to one of our debt counsellors.

A recent report by the Credit Services Association has said that the number of cases of mistaken identity by debt collectors is rising. 

Debt collectors are often accused of using less than favourable techniques in order to obtain payments, some of which are not entirely legal.  Although harassment of creditors is illegal, there are many cases which give evidence that debt collectors are not adverse to doing so. 

Another cousre of action that debt collectors take is 'fishing trips'.  This is where - whilst trying to locate a debtor - they contact people with the same name in the hopes that they might stumble across the right person.  This is also illegal, but has been used to devastating effect. 

Poor debt collection techniques caused Beryl Brazier to take her own life.  A victim of a 'fishing trip', she had been wrongly targeted to pay back thousands of pounds of debt.  Too embarrassed to tell her family of the constant letters she was receiving from a debt collection agency, she tried to pay off the debt - for which she had no connection to - with half of her life savings.  Sadly it eventually got too much and she drowned herself in 2007.

If you are being chased by debt collection agencies and you don't know where to turn, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156, where one of our debt counsellors will be pleased to help.

One of the many things that debt management clients worry about is their credit rating.  They often comment on it, asking our debt counsellors 'Will my credit rating be affected?'. 

A news story in the Financial Times today made me chuckle a little.  Whilst it was a serious story, it made me think of the debt problems faced by our clients, and a way of giving them a little bit of a lift in the currenbt financial climate. 

The story was about how Barclays, one of the countrys largest Banks, has had its credit rating reduced by Moody's.  It cited the 'Expectation of potentially significant further losses' as a reason for the downgrade from Aa1 to Aa3. 

Whilst this is a serious news article, I couldnt help but think that when things seem bad, or you're credit rating is taking a battering, just think of big old Barclays Bank Plc, trying to butter up Moody's to get a better credit rating. 

If you are in need of any form of debt help, or you want some help to understand your credit report, call MRA Debt Help on 01424 777156, where one of our debt counsellors will be happy to help.