News

Citizens Advice Scotland has welcomed the news that the Financial Conduct Authority is to force Wonga to pay its customers £2.6m in compensation for sending letters from non-existent law firms.

Citizens Advice Scotland have called for financial regulators to investigate the way credit brokers operate when referring people to lenders.

Today sees the launch of the Western Isles Poverty Action Group's (WIPAG) Survival Guide, an information booklet aimed at people in crisis.  

Recent statistics show that 70% of islanders are suffering from fuel poverty, and frequently facing a choice between ‘heating or eating’. One child in ten lives below the poverty line in the Western Isles, WIPAG has stated. Beyond this, the Western Isles still suffer disproportionately-high food prices. Welfare reforms have also had troubling effects. 

Citizens Advice Scotland has responded to findings by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that bank account overdrafts have ‘complex and opaque’ charges and are often difficult for consumers to understand.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) new regulation of consumer credit starts on 1st April 2014.

CAS have been advocating with strong CAB evidence for the need for better regulation of payday and other high-cost short-term lenders. Thanks to the detailed and invaluable evidence supplied by CAB through social policy feedback, engagement with the money advice team and the debt advisersgroup the new rules are the strongest ever felt by the industry.

Citizens Advice Scotland has warned consumers to beware the dangers of debt, as new figures show that spending on credit cards is on the rise. 

Figures released by the UK Cards Association show that spending on cards has increased by nearly 7 per cent across the UK over the year. (see appendix below)

Citizens Advice Scotland have said that payday loans can wreck peoples lives, and have warned Scots not to use them but to seek fairer credit options instead. 

The call comes as new figures from Shelter show that many people use payday loans to pay their rent and mortgage costs.

Citizens Advice Scotland has today written to all the main party leaders in Scotland, urging them to agree to a new policy of providing all Scottish S1 school pupils with a £10 credit union account.

A very special visitor was at the Scottish Parliament this morning as MSPs prepared to debate the dangers of payday loans. 

Santa Claus himself joined Citizens Advice Scotland staff outside the front of the Parliament at 10.30am to help them launch their new poster campaign. The posters, which will be displayed from today at every CAB in Scotland, are designed to spread the message that payday loans can land people in crisis debt, and that other forms of credit are available.