Brits ‘must avoid lending their way into debt’

Generous Britons should ensure that they are not risking their own financial security by lending money to their friends and family, it has been suggested.

Cristina Hoole, a spokesperson for PayPal, insists that while asking friends and family for debts to be repaid can be awkward, it is important that informal lending does not lead to unnecessary or more serious debt management difficulties.

Ms Hoole’s assertion comes after her organisaiton, which operates an online payment business, commissioned a study that found almost half of all UK consumers had lent money to their friends or family during the past 12 months.

“If you have lent the money, you need to find ways of getting that money back because we tend to forget,” she said.

“But you need make sure that you’re not getting yourself into debt by being the one that lends money to everyone else around you.”

The recent research carried out by YouGov on behalf of PayPal found that more than three million Britons had fallen out with their friends or family this year as a result of unpaid informal debts.