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07 November 2006
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has launched a new campaign to help people avoid getting into serious debt.
Known as Debt Alert, the campaign is running in the Metro News and is backed by NatWest Bank.
It highlights the state of Britain's personal finances as more people face the consequences of overspending, including damage to personal credit ratings.
The CAB has said that it dealt with 1.4 million debt problems in the last year, up by 11 per cent in the last 12 months, with 360,000 of these due to people running up unpayable card debts.
It also dealt with 225,000 unsecured loan problems and 107,000 people having difficulties with overdrafts.
CAB chief Executive David Harker said: "Our debt enquiry figures are deeply worrying. They suggest that a growing number of people are getting deeper into unmanageable debt it will be difficult to recover from."
He went on to say that the organization was "particularly concerned" about people suffering from mortgage arrears, with a 20 per cent rise in housing debt, which also included utility bill arrears.
The last year has seen a 55.4 per cent rise in the number of people declaring themselves insolvent, according to the government's insolvency service.
If you are worried about debt the first thing to do is check your credit report. Find out where you stand financially.
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