Extent of Britain’s debt woes ‘being hidden’

The true extent of the debt problems facing consumers across Britain is being hidden by the official insolvency figures, it has been claimed.

According to the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3), the data on insolvency is not representative of the country’s financial problems because it does not take account of the people who enter a debt management plan.

There are thought to be tens of thousands of Britons entering a debt management plan each year but they are not included into the official Insolvency Service figures, R3 explains.

Reflecting on the scale of the UK’s debt woes, R3’s president Nick O’Reilly said that the worst is yet to come and noted that the vast majority of his members agree with this prediction.

Meanwhile, Anna Sofat, founder of the financial planning firm Addidi Wealth, suggested that the number of Britons being declared bankruptcy is likely to continue to increase over the course of 2008.