Home repossession figures too high

6.15.46pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 27th Jun 2005

Responding to the latest figures on repossession activity, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Dr Vince Cable MP today called for a rigorous Office of Fair Trading inquiry into mortgage protection products in the insurance industry. The latest figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister show that the number of court mortgage possession actions rose by 30.1% in the three months to April 2005 compared with the previous three months, and was 44.0% higher than the same three month period a year ago.

Dr Cable said: "This is a very worrying trend. The levels of repossession are much lower than in the crisis period of the early 1990s but nonetheless there is a steady trend towards arrears and bank repossessions. "What this illustrates is that, as the economy slows down, people who are overstretched with borrowings face the risk of losing their family home. "Currently, there are only very weak safety nets available to mortgagees beyond those provided by the banks. A proper Office of Fair Trading investigation into mortgage protection products in the insurance industry is required. Many of the current insurance offerings are high cost and contain numerous gaps and exclusions. As a consequence, many mortgagees remain at risk in the current market.