According to recent report there was an increase in demand for debt advice online during the month of January, as consumers continued to struggle with their finances. New research has shown that there was a surge in the number of people getting online to seek advice about their debt problems in the month of January, with many struggling with the financial hangover from Christmas and the New Year.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service offers an online debt counselling tool, and officials from the charity said that there was a sharp rise in the number of people that were using the tool. In total 8591 people are said to have used this counselling tool, called CCCS Debt Remedy, in January of this year, which was twice the number that used it in the previous month and a higher number than any month of the previous year.

In total last year 65,825 people used this counselling tool to get help with their debt problems. The CCCS believes that based on the figure for January there will be a sharp increase in the number of borrowers looking to online debt assistance over the course of this year. In fact, the charity believes that there could be a dramatic rise in those seeking help with their debts given the soaring cost of living, the VAT hike, and uncertainty over job security.

Delroy Corinaldi, CCCS External Affairs Director, said: “The next year will be very difficult for many people and I am concerned that those struggling with debt will end up being charged for debt advice because they are unaware that free advice and support is available. I hope that the availability of this free service which can be used at any time online will help prevent people paying for debt advice unnecessarily.”