Drew Wotherspoon, of mortgage brokers John Charcol, said that there can be hidden costs in taking on a mortgage, particularly if borrowers switch providers. “Buyers tend to get caught up in the excitement of choosing a new home and run…

Tim Sleep, director of retail at Ernst & Young, said that disposable income levels are ten per cent lower than just five years ago yet people are borrowing more. “Access to debt, both in credit cards and mortgages, it’s certainly…

Wiltshire mechanic Richard Cullen, 65, had 22 credit cards with debt, four of which were issued by the Bank of Scotland who were owed £35,000. Seymour Fortescue, chief executive of regulators the Banking Code Standards Board, said he found the…

With calls for more research into gambling problems, medics at a British Medical Association conference labelled the habit a “social poison”. “Gambling addiction is as corrosive as drug addiction and alcoholism in terms of family break-up and financial ruin. It…

In a Financial Services Authority (FSA) poll of 1,000 schools, fewer than one in three primary school teachers and fewer than one in four secondary school teachers feel at ease giving lessons on money matters. Furthermore, financial education is squeezed…

Mike Naylor, principal researcher at Which?, said that thousands of people are at financial risk yet are still borrowing more. “Undoubtedly people need to take responsibility for their borrowing,” said Mr Naylor. “There is a real danger that people are…

An extra £9.3 billion was borrowed in May, which taken with credit card debt and other forms of credit, means that consumer debt now stands at £1.2 trillion. However, Drew Wotherspoon of John Charcol, believes that this should not be…

A uSwitch poll found that nearly two thirds of respondents did not realise there were typical charges of £17 involved in using credit card cheques and that they could incur extra interest. “There is a danger that many of the…