Northern Rock cuts its repossession numbers

The nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock has recently announced that it has managed to cut its mortgage repossession numbers as a result of the housing boom seen over the summer period. The bank has also seen stabilisation of the number of mortgage customers on its books that are in arrears with their mortgage repayments. Read more

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Balance transfers make Christmas debt manageable

Balance transfers and consolidation loans are a “manageable way” of tackling post-Christmas debt, according to industry experts.

Thomas Charles, a financial firm that offers a free confidential debt counselling service, has advised that consumers who overspend in the festive season should explore all the options available to them.

James Falla, director of Thomas Charles, said: “If you do find that you have overspent, there is nothing wrong with doing a balance transfer and transferring the balance onto a new credit card.

“But the key piece of information which is not discussed after doing that is that you must make sure that you cancel the previous card and cut it up so you don’t have the temptation to use it again.”

He added that it is the consumers who have done balance transfers and explored the consolidation loan route but not changed their attitude to spending that will “get themselves into trouble”.

Recent research published by Thompson found that consumers were still intending to spend more money this Christmas than they did in 2006, regardless of the credit crunch.

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