Britons ‘owe an average of more than £4,000’

The average UK adult owes over £4,000 on products such as unsecured loans, credit cards, overdrafts and store cards, new figures have revealed.

Data released by Credit Action for January 2009 has outlined the level of debt held by Britons, with the average outstanding mortgage totalling £104,300.

In addition, the report found that a typical UK household pays approximately £3,124 in interest payments to cover debts each year.

The charity also noted that that an estimated one in 33 people will lose their jobs in 2009, something that could lead to them experiencing debt management problems.

And the organisation claimed that a home is repossessed in Britain every ten minutes, while every 4.5 minutes an individual is declared bankrupt or insolvent.

It comes following a report from Citizens Advice that showed the average person who goes to the charity for help owes almost £17,000, an amount that is around 18 times larger than their monthly household income.

By Jamie Price