Debt advice line sees increase in callers

A growing number of people are telephoning a government-funded advice line for debt advice, new figures have revealed.

The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has announced a 40 per cent increase in the amount of people contracting the National Debtline over the last year, with the charity now taking approximately 23,000 calls per month.

Calls to Business Debtline, a service set up specifically to help firms that have fallen into financial difficulty, have doubled during between autumn 2007 and autumn 2008, the figures also showed.

Consumer affairs minister Gareth Thomas noted that it is “imperative” those struggling with the finances get help “as soon as possible”.

“There are a wide range of organisations [that] provide expert advice and can really make a difference when it comes to resolving debt problems,” he added.

The figures support recent statistics from Citizens Advice, which revealed a 125 per cent increase in the number of people enquiring about redundancy help since April of this year.

By Tom Musk