40% of adults in Britain worry over their personal debt

In a recent post I discussed my concern that even if we come out of recession as a nation, my fear was that behind all this was a massive level of personal debt from the days of cheap lending before the credit crunch hit (remember all those credit card applications that were posted through your letterbox on a daily basis?).
It seems I'm, not alone in worrying...


Four in ten adults in Britain (almost 19 million people) are worried about their debt, according to research by R3, the insolvency trade body.


The findings show that Londoners are the most likely to be worried, with almost half (49%) saying that they are concerned about their current level of debt.


Londoners are followed closely by those living in the North East and North West where forty-four percent of residents are worried about their debts.


For those who worry about their debt, credit cards caused the most concern (51%). Thirty-two percent of those worried about their debts were most concerned by their overdraft, with nineteen percent worried about bank loans and mortgages payments respectively.


Those living in the East of England were the least worried with just under a third (33%) saying that they were concerned with their overall level of debt. However, those in the region who do worry about their levels of debt were the most likely to be worried about credit card debts (63%). Those concerned about debt in Scotland and the North West follow closely behind, with fifty-nine percent saying that they worry about credit card debt. However, Londoners, who were most concerned about their debts overall were least likely to be worried about this specific form of debt (39%).


R3's President, Steven Law commented:

"It is alarming, but not surprising that so many people are worried about their debt. The research shows how debt has become a fact of adult life - starting with a student loan and eventually graduating to a mortgage, credit cards and loans. However, seeing debt as a way of life can lead to years of worries about financial stability. People who feel that they are struggling with personal debt should seek professional advice on managing their household budget early."

Also a concern was that the trend I discussed of housing availability and pricing slowly picking up has reversed in the last month and quarter with a raft of different, more negative figures, from a number of different organisations. More on this another blogpost.