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Universities meet student loan gap
Bankruptcy process to be accelerated
Shoppers are being warned against using expensive store cards
Universities meet student loan gap
With tens of thousands of students still waiting for loans due to delays after the Student Loans Company (SLC) took over from local authorities the job of processing applications, three-quarters of universities in England have handed out emergency cash to students. Some of this will be repaid to universities once the grants and loans come through.
Universities are also giving out hardship funds as grants, but these limited funds mean that there may be no money to help students who need help towards the end of the academic year.
A statement from the Student Loans Company said: "We are working hard to ensure that this does not happen again next year and are working on a number of measures including offering clear advice and guidance including on application deadlines, simplifying the application process and increasing our call handling capacity."
Source: The Guardian
Bankruptcy process to be accelerated
Government proposals to speed up the bankruptcy process in England and Wales have been published.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said that the plans will allow people to apply for bankruptcy by post or online instead of going to court, and that this will help people in debt and cut court costs.
"Many people delay making a petition for bankruptcy because they do not want to appear in court - meaning they can sink further into debt," said Business Minister Ian Lucas.
"We want to reduce that delay, while also freeing up valuable court time and resources to deal with other aspects of insolvency."
The consultation process on the proposals will close in February next year.
Source: BBC
Shoppers are being warned against using expensive store cards
Consumer group Which? has condemned the “unnecessarily high” rates of interest and easy access of store cards.
This is following research into store cards which found that a graduate earning less than £1,000 a year was able to obtain almost £3,000 of debt from several stores.
James Daley, editor of Which? Money, said: “Store cards have long been one of the most expensive ways to borrow. These rates are so high that any providers with interest rates higher than 25 per cent must provide a ‘wealth warning’ on their statements, advising customers that cheaper rates of borrowing can be found elsewhere.”
Source: The Daily Telegraph