In Reference Appointments & Updates
The Money Advice Trust has welcomed the Chancellor’s extension of the government-backed Covid-19 business loan schemes but has called for greater clarity on what will happen where business owners cannot meet repayments. Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust,
the charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline, said: “Today’s extension of the government backed Covid-19 business loan schemes is welcome and comes at a time when many businesses are facing an uncertain future. However, while these loans have provided much needed support, those who have already taken out loans and are worried about repaying, need certainty too. “More than a quarter of self-employed people we surveyed in receipt of one
Joanna Elson
of these loans said they were not confident they would be able to repay. The Government needs to be clear on what will happen to business owners who cannot meet their repayments. “This needs to include ensuring that the approach taken to recover any loans
is fair and affordable – a difficult financial situation should not be made worse by inappropriate collection tactics. “More widely, the government need to think about how to support those with
unaffordable loans longer-term. “A Student-Loan-style repayment scheme for small business owners who
have taken out government-backed loans they can no longer afford to repay could be one option.”
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The divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ continues to grow
starkly as we move towards the end of a year dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the December 2020 Money Statistics, produced by The Money Charity. As statistics move into the final months of
2020 and with winter still to come, the divergent impact of Covid-19 on UK household finances continues to be seen. For many households, the pandemic and its effects have meant that their finances have improved. For example, outstanding consumer debt fell by £17.9bn in the year to October 2020, while outstanding credit card debt fell by 16.4% in the same time period. House prices rose by an average of 7.6% in the year to November 2020, as solvent house buyers bought more space in suburban, town and rural areas. For the 30% of households who have
suffered income losses as a result of the pandemic, the picture continues to get ever worse. Unemployment increased by 241,000 in the latest quarter, with redundancies higher even than during the 2009 credit crunch recession, with 4,022 per day in the three months to October 2020.
48 Michelle Highman, Chief Executive of
The Money Charity said: “As a charity committed to Financial Wellbeing and Financial Education, we believe that the UK needs to be a country dedicated to
giving people of all ages the education, equipping, systems and circumstances they need to cope with life’s unexpected events, even if some events are even more unexpected than any of us could ever have imagined!”
R3 has launched a new resource for individuals in England and Wales who want to learn more about personal insolvency processes and managing their debts. The document, ‘Dealing with money
worries – a guide to your options’, provides an overview of the potential solutions available to those who are worried about their personal finances. It outlines all of the statutory (where the
people who are owed money agree not to take any further action during the process) and informal (where the individual who owes money’s assets aren’t affected) options for resolving debt problems, as well as fur- ther sources of support and advice. “We have developed this document to
provide individuals with all of the information they might need about the various options they can access and to make the idea of seeking help or advice on personal debt issues less overwhelming,” said Christina Fitzgerald, Vice President of R3.
MBM Commercial has bolstered the firm’s Dispute Resolution practice with the hire of Tim Edward. Tim joins the firm as a partner and will work closely along side Cat MacLean, head of MBM’s Dispute Resolution Group. He brings over 30 years of experience in commercial
litigation, insolvency and professional negligence, and is ranked in the 2021 Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Commercial Litigation in Scotland. He is also listed as a leading individual in Chambers in Commercial Litigation and Professional Negligence (Scotland) 2021. Stuart Hendry, senior partner, said: “As one of few remaining independent
Tim Edward
commercial law firms in Scotland and despite the challenges of a global pandemic, we continue to grow the business, expand our services and recruit outstanding individuals. Tim is widely regarded as one of the leading litigation lawyers in Scotland and his skills and experience will complement our business and help us meet a steady growth in demand for our expertise.” Cat MacLean, partner and head of MBM’s Dispute Resolution Group, added:
“Tim’s unparalleled background in dispute resolution, commercial litigation, and professional negligence in particular, will allow us to scale up the delivery of these services at a time when we are seeing increased client demand. He is an exciting addition to the team.”
www.CCRMagazine.com January 2021
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