Debt

Debt Advice * Research and resources

Personal debt is huge in the UK - worth around £1 400 billion. Credit Action update national debt statistics monthly, giving information about personal debt and some of its consequences, including bankruptcy and repossessions.

Individual borrowers clearly hold some responsibility for their own personal debt problems; lenders are also often criticised for irresponsible or inappropriate lending and/or marketing of loans. The high rates of interest many lenders charge can also lock people into a spiral of debt; not-for-profit lenders offer more affordable credit, but this is not always well publicised or accessible.

Debt Advice

There is a large debt advice sector, ranging from national charities to small local groups, but demand still outstrips supply. Some of the major initiatives offering debt advice are:

• National Debtline offers debt advice via telephone, 0808 808 4000, or by email through an online form for England and Wales or Scotland. It is part of the Money Advice Trust.
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) offers debt advice via telephone, 0800 138 1111, and an online Debt Remedy service. It is a sister charity of Credit Action.
• Citizens Advice Bureaux offer advice on debt, and other issues, in their local areas across the UK.
• Your Money Matters is a UK-wide programme offering debt advice and financial education to older people, run by Help the Aged.
• Capitalise is a London-wide partnership, led by Toynbee Hall, offering face-to-face debt advice.

Self-help resources are available for people who are concerned about their own debt:

• Credit Action offers a range of resources, training and money management tips
• National Debtline has a downloadable self help pack for Scotland and England and Wales
• iMoneyManager is a free software package which assesses your level of debt and helps you take action.
• BBC News has a dedicated section on its website for stories about and supprot for those in debt.

Research and resources

Credit Action's Debt Statistics are published monthly, giving detailed information on the level of personal debt in the UK.

Do the Right Thing (Citizens Advice 2010), Citizens Advice in partnership with other key advice organisations have developed a report which sets out best practice which they believe the debt collection industry should follow. 

The long-term impact of debt advice on low income households is a 3-year study by the University of Warwick from 2007 to 2010.

Click here to view a report of year 1

Click here to view a report of year 2

Helping over-indebted consumers, The National Audit Office 2010, this report by the National Audit Office highlights the need for a greater provision of debt advice and how with improved efficiency more people could be helped with their debt problems. 

Up to our neck in it, Capitalise, London's Debt Advice partnership produced a report highlighting the increase in demand for debt advice and other trends since 2006 (Capitalise 2009)

Money Advice Trust's Information Hub gathers together a range of research and resources around debt, credit and advice.

In April 2009 Debt Relief Orders were intorduced as a new form of personal insolvency. The Mary Ward Legal Advice Centre produced a short guide on them. 

Irresponsible lending - Profiting from Poverty: why debt is big business in Britain, a New Economics Foundation 2003 report, highlighted predatory lending practices of high cost lenders, targeted at financially excluded groups.

Debt on our Doorstep is a national campaign aiming to end irresponsible and extortionate lending.They are currently running a parliamentary campaign to Stop the PayDay Loans scandal - calling for an investigation into high cost credit.