Raising awareness key to avoiding debt

Citizens Advice says that by helping people build financial skills, such as how to budget or how to choose the best credit card, it will help many avoid debt.

“There is a need to include financial information at school age, to give people the right skills to be able to manage their finances in the future,” said a spokesperson from the bureau.

More responsible lending from banks was also called for in order to stop people taking out loans they cannot afford.

These comments come as the government prepares a new act which will allow the Office of Fair Trading to clamp down on what it deems to be irresponsible lenders.

In the meantime, Citizens Advice said it was concerned about the debt that people, particularly the young, were taking on and called for more awareness about the issue.