debt news

As many as 1.4million people are set to receive a letter from HMRC claiming that they have underpaid tax over the past two years, owing an average of £1,500 each.

About £2bn was underpaid through the PAYE (pay as you earn) system over the past two financial years, with 1.4m people now set to receive demands for the underpaid sum from Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue.

In addition, around 4.3m have been found to have overpaid tax over the same period, resulting in tax refunds totalling £1.8bn, or £418 on average per person.

Banks and building societies were writing off almost £40m per day in family debts in the second quarter of the year, according to new figures.

A report from the Bank of England found that lenders wrote off as much as £3.5bn of debt between April and June, equivalent to £38.5million per day, the largest amount on record for a single quarter.

Consumer confidence has increased for the first time since February, according to one report, raising hopes that High Street spending could help the UK avoid a ‘double-dip’ recession.

Market research firm GfK NOP said its consumer confidence barometer - which analyses retail patterns to produce an index of shoppers' optimism - increased by four points in August to minus 18, the first increase since the second month of the year.

More than 2million British holidaymakers are set to borrow more than £1,000 each to pay for their holiday and will spend up to seven months paying it back, research from an insolvency group has claimed.

Insolvency trade body R3 has claimed that Brits who are desperate to get some sun this summer will borrow substantial amounts in order to fund their annual getaway, borrowing on personal loans and credit cards despite the recent economic recession.

New figures have shown that the number of insolvencies amongst women in the UK has soared in the past ten years, with credit cards being the main cause of debt problems.

The research by the Insolvency Service revealed that 40% of all bankruptcies are attributed to women, with 29,680 cases in 2009. This is a huge jump from the year 2000 when there were only 6,042 female bankruptcy cases.