‘Thousands of Brits missing loan repayments’

A study by MoneyExpert found that during the last six months an average of 7,716 people have missed their loan repayments each day in the UK as the cost of borrowing has continued to increase.

Furthermore, the proportion of people with personal loans missing their repayments has risen from two per cent during 2006 to three per cent in the first half of this year, the latest research has shown.

Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert, said: “This is yet another warning of real financial distress and a sign that finances are being stretched to the limit by recent interest rate rises.”

“The concern has to be that people are missing repayments on unsecured loans because they believe there’s not as much at stake as missing a mortgage repayment,” he added.

During the first three months of this year there were more than 30,000 people in the UK who entered an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or declared themselves bankrupt, according to Insolvency Service data.