March 18, 2011 1.56 pm This story is over 171 months old

Lincoln debtors numbers soar

Personal debt: A charity revealed a concerning increase in the number of people with personal debts in Lincoln.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) charity revealed a concerning increase in the number of people with personal debts in Lincoln.

The charity says the number of its clients in Lincoln able to repay their debts has fallen to a four-year low.

CCCS says that there has also been a rise in people from Lincoln seeking its help for the fifth successive year.

It points to figures from Debt View, a new map on its website that breaks down personal debt by region, area and postcode.

The map shows that only 140 of the people from Lincoln counselled last year had enough spare income to begin a repayment plan, down from 174 in 2006.

Debt View also revealed that 542 people from Lincoln called its helpline last year compared to 428 in 2006.

Delroy Corinaldi, CCCS External Affairs Director, warned that many more families, including better-off ones, will be increasingly prone to over-indebtedness in the months ahead.

“It is also not a uniform picture across the country: public sector cuts in terms of jobs, spending and benefits will weigh disproportionately on certain groups of people.

“I am very concerned about the personal debt situation in Lincoln. Not only are there more people from Lincoln contacting us for help with their debts but those who do are in an increasingly worse situation.

“I would urge anyone in Lincoln struggling to repay their debts to seek help from a charity such as CCCS who can provide free advice and support.

“We have the capacity to help whoever needs it. It doesn’t make sense, when you are already struggling financially, to pay for a service that is available for free.”

Source: CCCS