HIGHLIGHTS ¦ DEMSA Newsletter

What you need to know this week

FCA growth-challenge measures could make contactless spend thresholds discretionary; past increases (2007 £10 → 2020 £45 → Oct 2021 £100) correlated with higher average contactless spend.
ONS: zero GDP growth in July 2025 (after +0.4% in June 2025).
Resolution Foundation: essentials and energy debt have risen sharply; energy debt has tripled in a decade.
StepChange: over two in five clients are in energy arrears; average energy arrears ~£2,300; average council tax arrears ~£2,000.
Warm Home Discount now requires evidence of income below £36,000 a year (documentary income checks).
Water sector: complaints to water companies fell by 8% (to 205,853) while complaints escalated to CCW rose by 3% (to 8,235); affordability complaints +110%, bill increase complaints +138%.
Companies House identity verification for directors/PSCs becomes mandatory from 18 November 2025 (Economic Crime & Corporate Transparency Act 2023).
FCA: Scott & Mears Credit Services entered administration on 2 September 2025; customers and DMP providers advised to cancel standing orders and liaise with creditors.
FCA launches £1m campaign on motor finance compensation awareness; 79% of motor finance customers aware they may be owed compensation; 46% of claimants used a CMC or law firm.
Authorisation/registration: FCA highlights common weaknesses (over-reliance on consultants, unclear role time allocation, misaligned policies, inadequate IT/control scenarios).
Scottish statutory debt solutions (AiB): 7,403 personal insolvencies in 2024/25 (−8.4% y/y); DAS DPP approvals 5,292 in 2024/25; three-year survival rates rising from 66% (2015–16 cohort) to 69% (2020–21 cohort).
Events: FourNet — 17 Sep 2025, Treehouse, Manchester (author speaking); DEMSA webinar — 25 Sep 2025 (webinar); One Voice on Affordability — 9 Oct 2025, Edwardian Hotel, Manchester.