Debt Advice Enquiries In Scotland On The Rise

Thu, 13 Aug 2009

People in Scotland are suffering from mounting debt problems, according to a new report from the Scottish Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service.

The Citizens Advice Scotland annual report showed that consumer debt was the biggest issue that advice was sought for during the past year, with debt-related issues accounting for almost 30 per cent of the 976,989 enquiries handled by advisors in 2008-9.

The end-of-year statistics also revealed there was a 16 per cent increase in debt enquiries from new clients, with debt-related advice being given on redundancy, repayments on loans, benefits and rising living costs.

Speaking at a conference marking the charity's 70th anniversary, Citizens Advice Scotland chief executive, Kaliani Lyle, said while there were signs of "green shoots" in the wider economy, the situation remained bleak for many people across Scotland, as well as in other areas of the UK.

She commented: "Debt, redundancy, housing problems, concerns about benefits, legal issues: all of these are going through the roof because the most vulnerable people in society are seeing their incomes fall, while prices rise and credit sources dry up. And for them, it is about to get worse before it gets better."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that ministers were working closely with debt support institutions such as Citizens Advice Scotland to help families in urgent need of debt advice .
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