New figures show that £1,460 billion is now owed by individuals in the UK, exceeding the UK’s total income for a year. Average borrowing via credit cards, finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has increased to £4,513 per adult. A property is repossessed every 13.4 minutes and a person is declared insolvent or bankrupt every 51 seconds with 1,000 people seeking some form of formal debt rescheduling every working day.

Additional research reveals that 78% of respondents who have borrowed money, did not seek advice before borrowing. The main concern when choosing who to borrow from was which provider would lend the largest lump sum (33%), more than choosing a trusted provider (14%) or one with good customer care (2.5%). Repayment difficulties raised more concerns about not being able to borrow more in the future (27%), than feeling any personal embarrassment or shame (15%).

95% of young people believe that debt is just ‘a fact of life’, with 40% of students believing it will take in excess of 10 years to clear their anticipated £10,000-£30,000 debt. 36% had no concerns about taking on the debt but 61% of existing students said they would advise school-leavers to do things differently by studying a course that more directly leads to a paid job.