The size of problem personal debts in the UK has climbed from last year,
a counselling service has found. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS)
says its clients on average owe £28,600, up 20% from last year.
The charity also said it was seeing an increasing number of people with debts
of more than £100,000. The number of people seeking help also is on
the rise, and CCCS said that it handled 50% more calls during the first 7
months of this year.
"The level of average debt of clients coming to CCCS this year has been rising rapidly," a spokeswoman said. The explosion of borrowing in the UK has been the subject of widespread comment.
Last year the nation's total amount of outstanding personal debt rose above £1 trillion, with most of the cash borrowed on mortgages.
That extra debt is taking its toll and the number of people being declared bankrupt in England and Wales rose by almost 37% during the second quarter of this year.
However, excessive borrowing - at least on credit cards - is a problem for a minority of people, figures from the banking organisation APACS revealed this week.
More than 90% of credit card debt is repaid within a year. And nearly three
quarters of credit card holders repay their borrowings within a month.
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