'Credit comfy' consumers face mounting debt risks
Published On 5 May 2007
Consumers are confident that they can manage large amounts of personal debt, but rising interest rates could mean more people have to seek debt relief services and IVAs in the future, a new report warns.According to Experian and CreditExpert.co.uk, nearly six million UK consumers said they would only start worrying about their debt levels when they exceed £15,000. One in twenty people said they would only be concerned when their debt topped £50,000.
Despite this, the report found that bankruptcy is still viewed as a major embarrassment for 18 per cent of the population.
"The fact that so many Brits are happy with unsecured borrowing of at least £15,000 may seem shocking on first sight, but the 'credit comfy' generation seems to have become anaesthetized to the real implications of mounting debt," said Jim Hodgkins, the managing director of CreditExpert.co.uk.
"While many still see big debt as socially unthinkable, the reality is that an increasing number are finding it difficult to gauge when debt tips over to being unmanageable.
"With the current rise in interest rates, many will find that debt they blithely ignored is in danger of spiralling out of control."
Indeed, recent government figures show that the number of people seeking IVAs increased by 4.7 per cent in the first three months of the year.
