People 'putting off debt advice'
Updated on 13 December 2008
People struggling with debt are waiting until 50% of their income is needed for repayments before they get help, research showed.
The average person who gets help with debt faces a £693 shortfall in their monthly budget before they tackle the situation, according to debt advice group Payplan.
It said based on more than 100,000 of its customers, the average person who contacted it faced monthly debt repayments of £901.40, while their total outgoings came to £2,361. But these people only had an average income of £1,668.
Pensioners and people approaching retirement face the biggest gap between their income and their expenditure due to debt repayments, with those aged over 60 having a monthly shortfall of £724 on average. Payplan said this age group would need a 55% increase in their income in order to meet their monthly repayments, although in reality many will see their income fall as they give up work.
John Fairhurst, managing director of Payplan, said: "Our research shows that British debtors are waiting far too long before seeking professional help.
"Prior to the credit crunch, if Britons couldn't afford their repayments they would often borrow further to pay them off, which clearly just made their situation even worse.
"Now what we are seeing is an increase in calls as people realise that they simply cannot borrow more money."
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