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The Citizen's Advice Bureaux has revealed that millions of people have visited them with two million new financial problems as more and more people find themselves in financial difficulty.

It says debt remained the biggest volume of enquiries for the service with 1.93 million new debt problems advised on by bureaux, an 11% increase on 2007's figures. There was a 114% increase relating to redundancy, a 49% increase relating to mortgage and secured loan arrears, with the bureau dealt with 95,342 enquiries. There were also 137,406 new enquiries about bankruptcy, up 24% on yearly figures.

A recent profile of CAB clients revealed that debt clients owe an average of £16,971, an amount it would take an average of 93 years to pay off at a rate they can afford. The most common reasons for debt were low income, over-commitment, illness or disability and job loss. But irresponsible lending, poor financial skills and increases in the cost of living had also played a significant part in people's debt problems.

David Harker, chief executive Citizens Advice says: "These new figures show the human impact of the recession as more people are coming to the Citizens Advice service for help. In particular we are seeing an enormous rise in the number of people turning to us for help because they have lost their job, or are struggling with debts or having problems keeping up with their mortgages.

"A recent funding boost has enabled us to see more clients, and train more advisers but we are expecting to see many more people struggling with severe debt and related problems as the recession continues to take its toll.

"It is therefore absolutely vital that all lenders and creditors treat people in arrears fairly and sympathetically, negotiate with borrowers in trouble and do everything they can to help ease their debt problems and avoid adding to them."

SOURCE: CAB, 10/06/09

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