Over-50s in credit card debt

Worst age overall for debt is 53 – 59, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said, with one debtor owing a total of £412,000 over 57 credit cards.

Out of the CCCS’ 155,000 clients, the over-50s came out as the worst for debt and the average amount owed by people who seek it for help is now £12,422 over three cards.

This is 50 per cent increase in just three years and the CCCS added that credit card debt was now the most common unsecured debt problem it had to deal with.

Even with credit card spending slowing on average, the over-60s managed to drive their balances up by a third between 2004 and 2005.

News of debt among the older generations follows research from the Prudential last month which showed that over a million pensioners have debts at an average of £15,500 each.