Overspending Britain

More than 80%of Britons admit to regularly overspending (26% overspend to cheer themselves up when they are feeling low - they don't call it retail therapy for nothing!). 5% have considered or taken out an IVA or declared themselves bankrupt. 9% have taken out a credit card to pay off debt on another credit card. 10% have missed payments on credit cards, store cards, loan or mortgage repayments.

According to a recent report by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) 89% of debt clients interviewed reported worrying about their money problems ‘most’ or ‘all’ of the time. Perhaps as a consequence, the great majority of clients believed their health had been adversely affected by their debt problems. 48% of clients described the impact of problems on their health as ‘great’, and 43% felt that their heath had suffered ‘to some extent’. Around three in five clients reported having received treatment, medication or counselling as a result. 45% of clients stated that debt problems had a negative effect on relationships with partners.

Research by BBC Breakfast suggests that more than a quarter (27%) of us are anxious about how to pay the bills.

The number of households struggling to repay their mortgage debt has risen to 7.7% according to the Bank of England.