Twice as many people struggle with Council Tax debt
Nov 08, 2006
In new figures released today the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) reports that the number of cases it handled relating to council tax debt nearly doubled in past year. CAB also report a 19 per cent growth in utilities debt problems with both types of case amounting to nearly 180,000 cases. The organisation, which is aiming to employ 370 debt advisors following funding of £33 million from the Financial Inclusion Fund administered by the DTI, is now the biggest provider of free, independent debt advice in the UK. The funding is aimed at increasing the availability of face-to-face debt advice to people in deprived communities and CAB say that 20% of all their clients ask for help with debt issues.
The type of debt they are able to advise on ranges from council tax and utility bill arrears right through to bankruptcy cases, which amounted to 65,000 consultations in the last 12 months. The range of consumer debt situations they assist with covers mortgages, loans and credit cards and also includes catalogue and mail order debts.
A spokesman for CAB suggested that the increase in staff trained in this area will help them to see people more quickly and provide advice at an earlier stage to prevent people’s debts increasing. They advised on a total of 1.4 million debt problems in the year2005/06 and in the consumer finance area the number of credit card enquiries has more than doubled over the last 8 years. In a press release the CBA cite some case study examples including one where a 70 year old man was charged £650 because his electricity supplier had not reset his pre-payment meter following a price increase.
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