One of the UK’s largest banking institutions has recently discovered that more than a ¼ of all its customers admit to delaying bill payments by around 3 weeks, with an additional half of all customers waiting until their creditors send a late payment prompt in the post, before they take action.

The institution also found that the vast majority of its customers state that the though of being in debt to their creditors, greatly increased personal stress levels.

However, around 8% of people were not concerned that their accounts were overdue and did not feel any more pressure to pay, when issued with a payment chaser.

A spokesperson for the organisation stated that although there are a percentage of people who simply do not care that they are in debt, the vast majority of people obviously do.

The general consensus suggests that people dread the prospect of receiving a chaser letter from their creditors, and the results also seem to prove that most people struggle to manage their personal finances, from time to time.

In other news, the government has recently announced its intention to inject an additional sum of money in to schools, as a means to fund personal finance classes. Such classes will almost certainly be used to combat situations, as detailed above.

According to one of the UK’s leading sub prime home loan providers, any individual who has defaulted on credit repayments in the past or has become indebted as a result of mismanaged finance, may struggle to attain a home loan in the not to distant future.

A spokesperson for the organisation stated that many lenders who operate within the bad credit arena, may soon start to retract a large proportion of their products thus leaving those consumers who have struggled with debt in the past, with little place to turn.

One of the countries largest sub prime mortgage providers (Kensington financial) announced a string of profit warning in the early part of 2007. Since then, a number of other high profile providers have systematically withdrawn their products, all of which were targeted specifically towards the FTB market. Some of the more controversial products such as the 125% mortgage were withdrawn almost as quickly as they were launched.

The sub prime market has been the cause of much concern of late, following on from the collapse of the US sub prime industry, which noted the fall of one of the countries largest credit providers. Hostile economic conditions in the UK are causing many firms to tread with caution, lest they suffer the same fate as our cousins across the pond.

According to recent findings by a leading international credit agency, more than 25% of parents spend in excess of £90 on their offspring’s first birthday party with an additional £60 spent on presents. Bringing the average price of a party, for the UK’s average 1 year old, to around £150.

The firm further discovered that UK households with 2 children would dedicate almost £500 each year on parties, causing many people to succumb to personal debt as a result.

A separate poll revealed that the vast majority of parents feel that their child’s birthday should be the most celebrated time of the year, above Christmas and Easter. For this reason, parents are unlikely to scrimp on the celebrations choosing to bend over backwards in order to give their child what they want.

The most costly elements of the average child’s party are said to include the venue, food and party bags. However, parties are also becoming more extravagant, and some parents are now adding the cost of clowns, puppet shows and even petting zoos to the bill.

One expert commented that although it is important to value your child’s early years and to make them as memorable as possible, it is also important to ensure that you do not run up any big debts as a result of doing so. Remember, it is possible to have a great day without spending a fortune.

According to a recent poll, the vast proportion of indebted UK citizens would apply serious thought to the use of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), as a means to tackle their debt predicament.

Based on statistics compiled by the government’s consumer insolvency agency, more than 55% of all indebted adults would gladly consider the option of an IVA, if they felt and/or were advised that the use of such a tool would be beneficial.

In addition, more than 15% of those surveyed stated that the IVA is a genuinely useful tool for people in serious financial trouble, and that more should be done to increase consumer awareness of the procedure.

The latter statement is further supported in the discovery that less than 20% of people aged between 20-30 are aware of the term IVA, yet alone the implications of its use. However, around 15% of the populous feel that the very presence of the IVA encourages consumers to artificially increase their debt levels, safe in the knowledge that they are able to write off the lions share at a later date.

According to a recent study, millions of parents in the UK are said to be struggling financially due to the escalating costs associated to modern schooling.

The study, which was conducted by a leading consumer advice group, discovered that almost 75% of parents have either become or fear they will become, seriously indebted as a result of trying to meet their childrens mounting school costs.

The study revealed that the most common school related financial burdens, which are forcing some parents into debt, include annual excursions, exercise books, and numerous different school uniforms.

A representative of the group suggested that it was the responsibility of the Government to offer adequate support both financially and advisory to any parent feeling the strain, and that parents and children alike, should not have to suffer in the name of education.

In addition, one expert also suggested that there is little point in offering free education to the masses, if parents feel as though they are then charged inadvertently for the privilege. As besides the obvious financial detriment caused, it can also hinder the Childs progress and/or available options.

As the prospect of financial difficulties loom above the heads of many UK citizens, a recent poll has revealed that tens of thousands of people are apprehensive with regards to their future financial position.

Accordingly, over two fifths of those surveyed stated that the condition of their future finances were cause for graver concerns than any other aspect of their day to day lives. Although, as an almost direct contradiction to the research, a large percentage of said responders admitted that the act of spending money was also one of their biggest personal comforts.

One expert stated that today’s consumers are extremely fickle. On one hand they are becoming increasingly stressed by the prospect of sinking into a financial abyss, where on the other hand they are happy to continue spending. Unfortunately, unless people stand up and face the fact that they have a problem, it will not go away or indeed, get any better.

It has also been discovered that the average indebted Brit owes around £30,000, which represents an increase of 110% over the last 1.5 decades.

According to recent research by one of the UK’s premier independent market analysis firms, astonishingly large numbers of Britain’s youth are said to be completely oblivious to there mounting debt dilemmas.

It has been discovered that almost half of all 19 – 25 year olds actively admit to being unable to guesstimate their creditor commitments, to the nearest £400 worth of debt. The news officially marks our younger generations as being the most irresponsible demographic when it comes to issues of personal finances. 

A representative from the research firm suggested that the results further support the argument for the introduction of debt lessons into schools. It is also fairly obvious that the UK’s younger demographic have little to no interest in saving their cash and/or budgeting for the future.

One expert also suggested that today’s consumer appears to accept debt as a way of life, and many people are actually setting themselves debt thresholds for the running of their day-to-day lives. In essence, we no longer budget around our earnings, opting instead to use credit as our ultimate financial boundary.

One of the UK’s most prevalent financial advice firms has recently stated that consumer debt levels in the UK are fast becoming chaotic.

Financial specialists CDV have suggested that consumers procrastinate far to much with regards to actually tackling their debt problems, and it would appear that many indebted individuals are only acting on their situation once it becomes to late. Our countries rapidly changing financial climate is reportedly causing many consumers serious problems with regards to their secured debts, with many homeowners reporting that their mortgage repayments are becoming unmanageable.

A spokesperson for CDV commented that it is high time that our countries indebted populous stood up and took action in order to combat their debt problems. It was also suggested that the Governments recent suggestion regarding the introduction debt management lessons into schools should be further spread to the adult population in the form of night classes.

A recent study has revealed that almost 8 and a half million people are struggling with what the government classes as “serious debt”.

Accordingly, almost 20% of indebted Brits have at least £11,000.00 in outstanding credit agreements, which are represented by a rise of almost 30% in the first quarter of this year. It has also been discovered that serious debt appears to affect men considerably worse than it does women, with approximately 20% of indebted males owing a minimum of £11,000.00.

The actual level of personal debt also seems to vary quite dramatically depending on whereabouts in Britain you look. Statistically, Scotland is worse affected by consumer debt than England, which was also reflected in the survey. Almost 25% of Scots owe a minimum of 11,000, and around 30% of these people admit to struggling with their credit commitments.

As a means to tackle personal debt, experts have advised consumers to consider the following debt solutions, usually in the following order: -

1. Try to better organise your finances through budgeting
2. A consolidation loan
3. A Debt Management plan
4. IVA or Bankruptcy

It is advisable for any indebted person to seek professional advice before they decide which of the above methods would be suitable, and it is also worth noting that the suitability of an IVA or Bankruptcy very much depend on individual circumstances and should only be considered in extreme cases.

A debt consolidation loan can be an extremely effective way to manage your debts, however you must learn to sever ties with any other unsecured credit provider in order for it to be successful.

That’s the advice given to debtors by one of the UK’s leading financial advisory firms. Accordingly, more than 40% of indebted people who apply and successfully qualify for a debt consolidation loan, hinder any chance of success by pursing their reliance on other forms of credit.

There are two reasons why this type of action is bad. The first and most obvious is that by continuing to apply for credit effectively renders the consolidation loan useless, as your monthly financial commitments increase almost immediately after the consolidation loan has reduced them.

The second reason is slightly less obvious, but by continuing to apply for credit and continuingly defaulting on your agreements can be devastating to your credit profile. This can be a major hindrance if you are advised to take a consolidation loan as a solution to your problem at a later stage, and are declined due to your past behaviour.

The general rule of thumb is to only use credit to control your credit if you are deadly serious about resolving your situation. If you feel that you cannot trust yourself with additional forms of credit then stay well away. Statistically, consumers struggling with debt are almost 60% more likely to require an IVA at a later date, through the mismanagement of such loans.