January always sees a surge in gym membership. Now the OFT is cracking down on unfair terms and conditions in the long contracts people are made to sign

The Royal College of Nursing has branded a hospital’s decision to appoint debt collectors to chase salary overpayments from staff as “highly inappropriate”.

THE number of firms going bust in Scotland fell for the first time in four years in 2012 according to KPMG, in an apparent sign businesses have got used to coping with tough trading conditions.

Creditor applications to deduct debts straight from debtors’ pay packets (attachment of earnings) soared 15% in the year to 30 June 2012, according to new research.

The amount of consumer debt passed to UK debt collection agencies rose to £62 billion in the third quarter of 2012, the highest level recorded in over a year.

Some 300,000 Britons who haven’t filed their tax returns for 2011 could face “debt-recovery actions”

Debt Collection agencies are set to face tougher, more intrusive and expensive regulation under plans being drawn up in Whitehall.

AN ARMY of “zombie companies” being kept afloat by record low interest rates have hit business recovery group Begbies Traynor’s earnings in the last six months.

Campaigners have called on the government to ensure debt collectors have high standards when collecting tax credit overpayments.

The OFT has also published revised Debt Collection Guidance, focusing on continuous payment authority (CPA), a mechanism commonly used by payday lenders to collect repayments.

Cash-flow problems that could leave companies unable to “fund any future recovery” are affecting one in four small businesses.

Global firms in the UK that pay little or no tax are an "insult" to British businesses, a committee of MPs says.

Accounting giant Ernst & Young is to be sued over the collapse of Anglo Irish Bank in 2009.

The UK economy grew by 1% between July and September, latest official figures have confirmed.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have almost double the rate of "zombie" companies than the rest of the UK, according to research by insolvency trade body R3.

We can all expect to hear more about bailiffs in the next few months. The Ministry of Justice is planning to reform parts of the 700-year-old framework governing these debt-enforcement officers

Creditors are losing almost £5bn every year to businesses that are simply being closed down without going through any formal insolvency process.

The inability of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to properly curb aggressive tax avoidance schemes is costing the UK billions of pounds, a report suggests.

There are "reassuring" signs the economy is continuing to recover and there is a "more upbeat mood" among the business community

The OFT has opened formal investigations into several payday lenders over aggressive debt collection practices.