Young Brits are ‘credit hungry’

Young British consumers could be heading for serious debt management problems given their current “credit hungry” attitude, it has been suggested.

A recent study by Checkmyfile has found that Britons aged between 22 and 34 are among the least likely to make use of price comparison sites before borrowing and are among the most likely to use store card credit.

Meanwhile, the so-called silver ‘surfer sector’ of the UK population – those aged between 55 and 65 – tend to carry out the most thorough research before adding to their debt management burden, the latest figures from the credit reference firm demonstrate.

“Our survey shows that the relatively credit hungry 22-34 age group tends to borrow from a narrower range of lenders, without the same regard for the overall cost of credit as taken by older borrowers” said Barry Stamp, joint managing director of Checkmyfile.

Last year, the UK’s payment association Apacs launched a guide aimed at helping young people around the country avoid accumulating unmanageable credit card debt.