19 September 2005
Britons are being careless about debt, a new report has said
Research from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that there has been a record increase in the number of personal bankruptcies between April and June, up by 37 per cent on the same period last year.
The Fund's Financial Stability Report says that, including mortgages, the UK has a cumulative £1 trillion in debts outstanding.
The IMF also says that most families have debts of over one and a half times what they earn.
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service told the Daily Mail that most debtors it helped were couples in their midthirties with children and a mortgage.
Steve Cullen, a debt specialist at the Citizens' Advice Bureau, said: "Four or five years ago, I would have been astonished to help someone with £100,000 debt. Now it is commonplace."
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