Welsh families falling into debt from an inability to repay cash loans will most likely be seeking help in far greater numbers soon, according to one debt advice charity’s expectations.
Debt help demand could rise by as much as 23 per cent by 2013, the Money Advice Trust recently remarked. Public sector job concerns across Wales would be one factor fueling the aid requests, the body said, while concerns were also raised by the actions of duplicitous payday advance lenders giving the industry a blackened eye for engaging in predatory lending practices.
Research commissioned by the Trust found that in 2011 alone, 66,000 Welsh were given assistance through debt advice agencies. The debt advice charity’s report follows on the heels of another recently released by PricewaterhouseCoopers where the financial analysts predicted as many as 50,000 Welsh workers with public sector jobs could be placed at risk over the coming few years.
Debt problems are nearly inevitable in the wake of high levels of unemployment, according to Money Advice Trust chief executive, Joanna Elson. She urged people to understand that there is free advice available to them that can be the key difference between reining in your finances or allowing them to spiral out of control into unsustainable levels of debt.
North Wales Credit Union business development officer, Malcolm Jackson, commented on the research findings, stating that they rang true. The lender is experiencing an increasing number of people, Mr Jackson said, and more and more of them are not just from lower income earning backgrounds.