ROAR Plus

What you need to know this week Inflation rose to 3.5% in April 2025, up from 2.6% in March, impacting household budgets and potentially delaying interest rate cuts. FCA’s CP25/13 proposes aligning complaint reporting to calendar year-end and includes new categorisation rules for Consumer Duty and Vulnerability. Individual insolvencies for April 2025 reached 10,012, including 5,586 IVAs and 3,837 DROs. 7,273 Breathing Space registrations in April 2025, a 5% year-on-year decrease. New rules will bring Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL)… Read more

What you need to know this week The Government will launch a consultation on council tax debt collection practices following sector lobbying. UK GDP grew by 0.7% in Q1 2025, with 0.2% month-on-month growth in March. Domestic abuse estimates highlight 3.9 million people affected in the past year, with economic abuse and coerced debt in focus. 90,140 homeowner mortgages were in arrears in Q1 2025; 2,030 properties were repossessed. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) has launched a consultation on… Read more

What you need to know this week The Bank of England cut the Bank Rate by 0.25% to 4.25%, impacting tracker mortgages. FCA launched CP25/11 consultation to simplify mortgage changes. FCA published PS25/3 confirming new Consumer Credit Return (CCR009) reporting requirements from 2025. Aryza’s Q1 2025 insolvency insights highlight increasing consumer struggles with priority bills. FOS received over 141,000 complaints in H2 2024, with gambling-related harm cases rising. Treasury Select Committee examined AI in financial services, focusing on balancing innovation… Read more

What you need to know this week Roma Pearson, former Director of Consumer Finance at the FCA, joined Square 4 Partners as Senior Advisory Director. Net mortgage borrowing by individuals rose sharply to £13 billion in March 2025, per Bank of England data. Net borrowing of consumer credit fell to £0.9 billion, with credit card borrowing dropping to its lowest level since April 2024. Citizens Advice published Deeper in Debt, reporting a 50% rise in household arrears since 2019 and… Read more

What you need to know this week Annual energy bills forecasted to fall by £166 in July 2025. UK GDP growth could slow to 0.8% in 2025 and 2026 if tariffs are imposed. Inflation expected to return to 2% by mid-2026 after a short-term rise. Over £1 trillion card transactions made in the UK in 2024. Financial vulnerability now increasingly affects middle-class and affluent households. 9,205 individuals entered personal insolvency in March 2025 in England & Wales. DRO volumes remain… Read more