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26 October 2005
Problem debts are increasingly hitting disabled people, a major new report has claimed.
Leonard Cheshire, the disability charity, has revealed in its "In The Balance" report that the disabled often have higher costs related to their impairment and that in many cases their level of income cannot come close to matching them.
Nine out of ten interviewees said they ran out of money regularly, while 39 per cent admitted to borrowing more when grappling with existing debts. Creditors were said to generally show a lack of understanding of the financial problems faced by disabled people.
While the nation's soaring debt levels can frequently be put down to unnecessary overspending, disabled people are having to borrow to cover the most basic of costs - as John Knight, head of policy at Leonard Cheshire, explained.
He said: "Disabled people are being forced into arrears because they face additional costs related to their disability, yet are living on lower than average incomes. Whilst easy access to credit is also part of the problem, for disabled people a significant amount of debt comes from essential purchases.
"This leaves disabled people particularly vulnerable to spiralling debt which they have little prospect of clearing."
The organisation the government to make several changes to credit policy - including asking lenders to write off debts when a customer becomes disabled
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