UK Consumers Seek Help for Debt Problems
The charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) advised 50,472 people between June and December 2006. This is a 66% increase in the number of people with debt management problems that it helped during the same period in 2005, to 30,450.
The CCCS said this is due to the fact that they are expanding the services they offer UK consumers. However, the charity also points out that single people in the UK as now the most vulnerable to debt related problems.
A Debt Counsellors survey claims that 22 per cent of married consumers do not tell their spouse about their debt problems, and 27 per cent have kept debt problems a secret from the person they are living with.
There are several venues that believe many of the problems single people face are caused by their partner’s ‘hidden’ debts. Many of these consumers may expect to separate assets when they divorce. However, more and more, UK consumers are finding that their wealth is swallowed up by hidden debts, and that all the couple has to separate are debts.
This problem will only grow as recent figures suggest that 1 in 5 UK consumers are considering bankruptcy. This translates to almost 9 million consumers who feel that their debts are so high they must declare bankruptcy.
However, the number of people who are having trouble repaying their debts has dropped by 7 per cent from last October. The number of people who have problems paying their monthly debts and bills has dropped 40 per cent.