More people with debt problems seeking advice

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has recently revealed that over the past year the number of homeowners seeking debt advice has increased by a third.

Over the last 12 months CAB has received 77,000 new enquiries from people who are concerned about problems with mortgage and loan arrears. Rather than irresponsible borrowing, many of these problems have been caused by redundancy, sickness or relationship breakdowns.

The lack of new credit and the ability to remortgage to consolidate existing debt continues to worsen the situation for many people struggling with their repayments. Whilst mortgages have become cheaper for those on variable mortgage rates, loans and credit cards continue to be expensive.

It is vital to communicate your payment problems to your lender at the earliest opportunity. Your mortgage should certainly be a priority payment with unsecured debts such as loans and credit cards coming next. Should your debt problems start to get out of control you may benefit from speaking to a specialist debt management company who should be able to negotiate lower payments for your loans and credit cards.