‘Extreme debt circumstances’ can lead to imprisonment

“Extreme circumstances” surrounding debt can lead to imprisonment but this situation would have to involve “quite a serious case”, it was suggested this week.

Chris Tapp, director of money education charity Credit Action, was discussing recent changes the government has made to the Consumer Credit Act.

He said the legislation surrounding debt in the UK is now “pretty up to date” and only in certain situations would someone go to jail for unpaid debt.

“It really would have to be quite a serious case of someone trying to evade court fines and that sort of thing,” he explained.

Mr Tapp also said people going to prison for not paying off their credit cards was unlikely.

His comments follow recent Credit Action statistics that showed the total UK personal debt to be £1,443 billion at the end of May this year.

In addition, the average amount – including mortgages – owed by each UK adult is £30,394.