Increasing demand for debt advice

A report from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has identified Northern Ireland as one of the UK's personal debt hotspots.   CCCS found that London and Northern Ireland were the only two regions where CCCS clients on average did not have enough income to cover their living expenses.

These figures from CCCS also reflect the experiences of many clients of the Dealing with Debt service operated by Citizens Advice.  Many of our clients are struggling with increases in the cost of living and reductions in household incomes through redundancy or decreases in working hours.  This has left many people living with increasing levels of debt which can have serious implications for their family relationships, health and wellbeing.

Over recentyears Citizens Advice has seen increasing demands for the free, independent money and debt advice we provide.  In the last year the Dealing with Debt service helped over 2,500 clients with over £33million of debt which is an increase of 7% on the previous year and continues the four year upward trend since the service began. The three largest sources of debt in Northern Ireland are credit cards, personal loans and mortgages.  Mortgage debt as a percentage of overall debt has increased from 2% to just under 20% over the last four years of the service. 

We are pleased that the DETI has renewed our contract to provide the Dealing with Debt service in Northern Ireland.  This service currently faces very high levels of demand.

Our advice to those suffering with unmanageable debt problems is to seek advice and not to ignore the problem.  Good quality debt advice can help enable people stay in their homes, better their personal relationships and reduce pressure on the health service.