‘Banks to blame’ for UK debt levels

Chairman of Debt Free Direct Mike Blackburn told the Telegraph that the continuing rise in Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) being entered into nationwide has been fuelled by excessive and inappropriate bank lending.

And with the same banks expected to announce record profit figures, Mr Blackburn’s organisation suggests that there are between one million and two million people in the UK who have found themselves terminally indebted.

Mr Blackburn is quoted as saying: “We are where we are because of excessive and imprudent lending decisions made by creditors, who end up with debtors strung up with debt they would never be able to deal with.”

A recent study from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service demonstrated that Britain’s largest debts are typically being accumulated by the country’s over 60s.