More Scots are worried about their debts than UK average – and almost 10% can only pay interest
Four in ten Scots say they are spending less as they grapple with the rising cost of living, and 20% admit they have no savings to fall back on if unexpected bills come in. Meanwhile almost 10% of those with debts are only able to pay off the interest on their overdraft each month.
Research by R3, the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, found that more than one in three adults in Scotland expect their financial situation to deteriorate over the next six months.
Four in ten Scots say they are spending less as they grapple with the rising cost of living, and 20% admit they have no savings to fall back on if unexpected bills come in. Meanwhile almost 10% of those with debts are only able to pay off the interest on their overdraft each month.
Research by R3, the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, found that more than one in three adults in Scotland expect their financial situation to deteriorate over the next six months.
More Scots are worried about their debts than the average across the UK. Some 65% see credit card repayments as their biggest concern, compared with 50 per cent across the UK as a whole, while a third are anxious about overdrafts and a quarter about bank loans. Both these figures are higher than the UK averages.
People who are “treading water” and only paying off interest are vulnerable to changes in their circumstances or a rise in the Bank base rate and are at risk of personal insolvency, R3 warned.
John Hall, Scottish council member for R3, said: “What is worrying is that so many individuals are simply treading water with their debts and only able to make minimum payments. The issue for these people is that the slightest change in their circumstances means that they will rapidly be plunged into insolvency.”
For more on this story, see: http://www.scotsman.com/news
For the research in full, see: http://www.r3.org.uk/media/documents/policy/research_reports/personal_debt_snap/R3-Personal-Debt-Snapshot-Wave-7-2012.pdf
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