Posts Tagged ‘Consumer Credit Counselling Service’


Men have higher debt levels than women

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

There is little doubt that many people of all ages and both sexes are struggling with huge levels of debt these days, with many finding it difficult to keep on top of their financial commitments or even make basic everyday purchases because of their difficult financial circumstances. However, despite the current financial climate there are many people that are still not concerned about their debts according to a recent report.

It is reported that people do not tend to start worrying about their personal debt levels until they reach around £9700 or above, even though those with less debt may still be struggling. The average level of debt is around £8400 but many people will wait until it is far higher than this – around£10,000 higher – before they decide to take action and seek advice about how to handle their debt.

Research also showed that it was men who had higher personal debt levels than women, with an average 24 percent more personal debt amongst men compared to women. This comes despite the fact that many men assume that women simply spend spend spend on clothes and shoes using their credit cards and loans!

One industry official involved in the research said: “It is worrying to see that while people become concerned about their debt at £9767 it takes a further £10,000 to trigger a need to seek debt advice. For most people paid advice, such as a fee-charging debt management plan, is a last resort and consumers should explore do-it-yourself solutions and fee-free debt advice from some of the many debt charities such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, Money Advice Trust or Citizens Advice Bureau.”

Tags: debts, higher personal debt, financial, Consumer Credit Counselling Service, plan, worrying, advice

Personal debt issues could hit public sector workers

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

According to some industry experts many public sector workers could face rising levels of personal debt as a result of the many cutbacks that have been made by the coalition government. Having outlined the cutbacks in his emergency budge earlier this year the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, was more specific about his cutbacks in his Spending Review in October, and there are fears that there could be around half a million job losses in the public sector.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service has said that more and more people will have to face up to personal debt issues, and since the government cutbacks will also have a knock on effect on the private sector there will be many people that will struggle with their debts due to job losses and cuts in their hours.

Many people are already struggling when it comes to managing their debts because of the problems caused by the recession and the global financial crisis. With the cutbacks that many people now face at their places of work the problem could become even worse, and a rising number of people will be considering insolvency, debt management plans, and other solutions to enable them to deal with their debts.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service has said that anyone that is concerned about repayment of their debts is advised to contact them or a similar debt charity so that a solution can be reached with regards to how the debt issues can be handled.

One official from the service stated: “I would urge anyone struggling to repay their debts to seek help from a charity such as CCCS or Citizens Advice who can provide free advice and support.”

Tags: Personal finance, finance, job, debt, Consumer Credit Counselling Service, Spending Review, Chancellor of the Exchequer

UK households struggle with debt

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

According to a recent report UK households are increasingly struggling with personal debt problems, and many have no solution to help them out of their debt problems. A report has been released by the debt charity, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, showing that nearly one third of people seeking assistance from the charity have been told that there is no solution to their financial problems.

Over 96,000 clients were counselled by the charity in the first six months of the year, and of these over 30,000 were told that there was no solution to their debt issues. The charity said that in cases such as these consumers needed to earn more but in many cases this simply wasn’t possible.

On average those that could not be helped had outgoings that were around £449 higher than their income. This was for a variety of reasons, such as losing income, having hours shortened at work, or having an extra expense such as a baby.

Debt problems in the UK have been further highlighted in a report from the UK’s Office for National Statistics, which showed that nearly four million households, equating to 20 percent – had no adult in work living in the household. The situation could be worsened as a result of the job cuts expected due to the cutbacks being made in the public sector as part of the emergency budget to cut the public deficit.

The Money Advice Trust said: “We have grave concerns that households witnessing a fall in income due to unemployment will start to default on debt repayments, and that we may start to see a sharp rise in personal insolvencies. Research undertaken by the University of Wales last year found there were 2m ‘iceberg bankruptcies’ in the UK – employed people who could not afford any fall in income without defaulting on debt repayments.”

Tags: Consumer Credit Counselling Service, debt, households, credit

Debt worries for private tenants

Friday, June 25th, 2010

Recent reports have suggested that debt worries may be increasing for private tenants in the UK, with reports of large increases in the number of private tenants seeking advice with regards to their debts. The data comes from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service, which claims that the level of enquiries regarding personal debt has increased.

The CCCS said that the number of debt related enquiries from those that are privately renting as well as those in social and council rented properties has been rising as a result of many of these renters being unable to keep on top of their repayments. The charity said that previously many enquiries had been from people that were homeowners and worried about losing their homes, but now this had switched to many of the enquiries being from those that were renting.

The CCCS is now concerned that there could be an increase in homelessness as a result of renters struggling with their finances. Those that fall behind on their rent as a result of their financial situations could quickly find themselves being evicted. The CCCS is urging renters to ensure that they always make payments on their rent before they worry about non-priority debts.

The charity also said that things could get worse for those that are on housing benefits, as the new coalition government has cut benefits including housing benefits, which could increase the difficulties that are facing many renters.

An official from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service said: “While we have always had more people in rented accommodation calling for help with their debts, they have usually been able to maintain their rent payments. This suggests that the personal finance situation for those in rented accommodation is deteriorating to the extent that they many end up homeless.”

Tags: Consumer Credit Counselling Service, credit, debt, finance

Elderly could save money with equity release service from charity

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Equity release schemes can often prove to be very useful for older homeowners that want to unlock some of the equity in their homes, but the scheme have also come under fire on a regular basis as a result of the fees that many elderly end up paying. (more…)

Tags: Consumer Credit Counselling Service, Personal finance, equity release

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