A million people in Britain could be on the verge of bankruptcy, while one in five adults – or eight million – have unsecured debt of more than £10,000, according to a report out today. Research by YouGov suggests 1.7 million people often struggle to meet their debt payments. Nearly a million of those could have problems meeting their obligations every month.
Bank of England figures last year showed the amount of personal debt in Britain had broken through the £1 trillion mark, with people encouraged by low interest rates and the easy availability of credit. Much of that debt is mortgage, or secured debt, but a growing proportion is unsecured credit card or overdraft debt.

Of the 1,366 people YouGov interviewed, 13% said they were quite likely, or even certain, to declare themselves bankrupt in the near future. That equates with one million people across Britain. Recent government figures showed there were 23,351 personal insolvency filings in the first quarter of this year in England and Wales, a 13% rise on the previous quarter and a 73% increase from a year earlier. Experts predict the number going bankrupt this year will top 100,000 but YouGov showed that 900,000 people across Britain have sought help from a debt solutions company.

Source:
Guardian
22 May 2006

Benedict Mackenzie comments: it is encouraging that an increasing number of people are seeking help for their debt problems, but the issue of debt is increasing faster and faster. The ease with which people can obtain credit is having a drastic effect on our society. Often people have overspent well beyond their means before they realise that they can no longer extricate themselves and are in danger of losing everything, at this point professional help is the only way of finding a solution.