Debt enquiries increasing, says advice charity

Debt is still the most common enquiry received by the Citizens Advice Bureau, the organisation revealed today.

The volume of debt-related queries from April 2008 to March 2009 increased by 11 per cent on the previous year, amounting to 1.93 million new problems.

Citizens Advice chief executive David Harker suggested that the statistics showed the effect of the economic downturn on the population.

“We are seeing an enormous rise in the number of people turning to us for help because they have lost their job, or are struggling with debts or having problems keeping up with their mortgages,” he said.

Mr Harker also urged lenders to be “sympathetic and fair” to those who were currently experiencing financial difficulties.

According to the figures, there was a 24 per cent increase in the number of people seeking advice on bankruptcy and a 114 per cent rise in redundancy-related enquiries.

This follows a recent report by Credit Action that the average debt of a British homeowner is currently £30,500.

By Francis Finch

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