Debt advice demand "doubles"

29/01/2009

Demand for debt guidance has risen to unprecedented levels due to the recession, the Money Advice Trust said today.

According to the financial advice charity, job losses and a lack of loans lending from banks have put pressure on households' personal finances, leading to the upswing in interest.

Recently, National Debtline released figures for the end of 2008, showing that calls for the public asking for help had increased by 70 per cent over the year before.

At the same time, government figures put the UK economy officially in recession for the first time since the early 1990s.

Beccy Boden Wilks, spokesperson at the Money Advice Trust, added: "At the moment, we're having about double the amount of calls as we normally would.

"The indication is that there are definitely a lot of people in difficulty, absolutely."

Kevin Still, director of EuroDebt, added: “There is no doubt that current job insecurity and loss of income are causing many consumer major concern.

"In the last year over 17 per cent of the clients joining a EuroDebt Debt Management Plan identified loss of income as the primary reason they needed our services."

He added: "This does not take account of those that have actually stopped working or lost their job, which account for a further 11 per cent."

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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