ReallyWorried About Debt Index

The UK’s first Debt Worry Index shows a third of struggling debtors will never afford to repay all they owe and families are much worse off than childless debtors.

ReallyWorried About Debt Index 2008 www.reallyworriedaboutdebt.co.uk

One of the largest debt surveys ever in the UK, over 9,500 people participating:

Average unsecured debt, amongst those surveyed, has risen by £3,150 over three years, from £23,553 in 2005 to £26,644 in 2008.

People in the Orkney Isles owe the least at £4,188. City of London (and London EC) residents owe the most at £41,002.

The average male respondent borrowed 37% more than his annual take home pay.

The most indebted respondents are men over 45 and living in the South West at £46,294.

Participants with children owe £7,029, almost a quarter more than childless couples, and singletons.

Across the ages and regions the respondents who need the largest increase percentage in their income to cover their debt are men over the age of 45 who owe 177% of annual take home pay.  Female respondents under the age of 25 owe the least amount of debt in proportion to their take home income, at 76%.

31% owed more than 150% of their annual take home pay: meaning they are likely to find it almost impossible to pay back.

View The Debt ReallyWorried Debt Index Map (188k .pdf)
View ReallyWorried Debt Index (294k .pdf)

Funts – ‘The Financial Untouchables’

To mark the launch of the national campaign for better treatment of ‘Funts – financial untouchables’ the founder of the national anxiety site, ReallyWorried.com, is launching ReallyWorried About Debt, a debt community website where people can talk about their financial worries in order to get solutions, advice and compassion from other users and free professional advice, www.reallyworriedaboutdebt.co.uk.

ReallyWorried About Debt has commissioned research, the UK Debt Index 2008, on those who already have debt worries, possibly the largest survey on UK debt. The research gives a graphic, alarming picture of the state of debt in the UK, for example, 31% of people are highly unlikely to ever be able pay their debt off and that having children increases debt by a quarter.

ReallyWorried About Debt is the brainchild of Richard Rubin, ‘Britain’s most worried man’ and founder of ReallyWorried.com. Richard created the website because I have personal experience of debt and have come through it. I know that when I was struggling with debt, the idea of a website where I could talk confidentially about my worries, get advice, support, and compassion would have been very important to me. ReallyWorried About Debt enables those who have experience of managing debt can pass their experience onto those who are panicking about their finances.

ReallyWorried About Debt is wholeheartedly supported by Bev Callard Liz McDonald in Coronation Street – currently working through her own financial issues, and by Dr Stephen Ladyman Labour MP, who is campaigning for better treatment of Funts. Ladyman says ‘Almost half a million people become Funts, (financial untouchables) every year, and the number is growing. I see that there is a grave need for help, advice and support for financial worries, because this situation can really happen to any one of us.’

Debt Resolution specialists, ClearDebt, will be providing free debt advice to the website’s users and are helping to fund the ‘Funts’ campaign. David Mond, Chief Executive Officer of ClearDebt a debt resolution specialist which provided the statistics says: We are supporting this campaign because we believe there are many thousands of people in Britain who are doing their absolute best to repay as much of their debt as they can afford, yet who are treated as funts by financial institutions ‘making life much more difficult to live’.

Debt is such an overwhelming worry, that it actually impacts on our physical health. If you have debt, and many of us have, please get advice, face it, come to the best arrangement you can with your creditors and use tools such as reallyworriedaboutdebt.com.

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Ends.

Notes to editors:
1. Full details of the research are available in ReallyWorried About Debt executive summary.
2. The data has been captured from 9,600 people who were really worried about their debts; collated from a comprehensive, financial survey on the ClearDebt financial management website from respondents seeking debt advice.
3. The statistics look only at unsecured debt; meaning balances, credit cards and loans. Not loans secured on a persons home, mortgages or second charges on property.
4. Interviews are available with Bev Callard, Stephen Ladyman MP, Richard Rubin and ClearDebt.

For further information, please contact:
Elaine Brass, 07951 989 588, elaine@brassela.co.uk