Massive increase predicted in need for debt advice
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 18 July 2020
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The organisation charged by the government to provide debt advice says it expects the number of people in financial difficulties to soar by 60% as the economic crisis begins to hit home. By late 2021 it expects that eight million people will have not been able to pay at least three bills in a six month period. And there are growing concerns that people with severe debt are being exploited by firms selling Individual Voluntary Agreements - a formal debt solution to pay back debts - which the firms make money from.
Saving, if you can afford it. With interest rates at record lows, what is the motivation to save? Some community schemes think they have the answer.
And Ofcom say it's concerned 'some customers are not being treated fairly' when it comes to being charged for keeping email addresses after switching provider - available to listen to in our podcast edition.
Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researcher: Lizzy McNeil Producer: Alex Lewis Editor: Emma Rippon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers. |
| 0:08.0 | But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA |
| 0:12.0 | was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife. |
| 0:18.0 | Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family? When lies are still being told to this day, |
| 0:24.0 | who do you believe? I wouldn't even know where to start and I'm with the IRA. |
| 0:28.6 | Steakknife. Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast. |
| 0:39.5 | Now, with interest rates at record lows, what is the motivation to save? |
| 0:43.9 | Some community schemes think they have the answer. |
| 0:46.9 | The organisation, charged by the government to provide debt advice, |
| 0:50.2 | says it expects the number of people in difficulties to soar by 60%. That's 8 million will have |
| 0:56.4 | left three bills unpaid in the last six months. And two broadband providers are accused of |
| 1:01.6 | unfair practice by the regulator after charging customers to keep their email address working normally |
| 1:07.6 | when they switch to another provider. But first, how best to save. |
| 1:13.3 | Getting into a savings habit and sticking to it is hard at the best of times. |
| 1:17.4 | Now, for the millions of people facing personal financial difficulties, it's even harder. |
| 1:22.3 | And there's not much encouragement from the banks with interest rates plummeting close to zero. But of course, saving |
| 1:29.2 | isn't just about what your money earns. It's about having that cushion when things go wrong. |
| 1:34.9 | Something people now realise is more important than ever. So how do you motivate people to save |
| 1:40.3 | and keep saving? Well, one way is to join an informal savings circle. With us is Bollosol, |
| 1:46.8 | who helps people build financial confidence and take more control of their money. |
| 1:51.6 | And Bollesol, tell us how these schemes work. Oh, hello. So there's a few names for it. So there's |
| 1:58.2 | like, oh, we'll add your partner,ousu. And it's just saving amongst friends. |
... |
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