Monday, February 02, 2009

Debt Resources

Update: latest debt stats from Credit Action just out:

£135m daily increase in UK debt
£59,702 average household debt (including mortgages)
£224m interest paid in UK daily
every 10 minutes a property is repossessed
2,466 people made redundant every day
1 person every 4.8 minutes declared bankrupt or insolvent
£102 average daily decrease in house prices in 2008

The average houshold paid nearly £3500 in debt interest in 2008.
The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 17.42%, which is 16.0% above base rate (1.5%).

30% of adults are concerned about their ability to manage personal debt.

full monthly report here, bleak stuff.


original post
Following on from the CRE post yesterday, here's a slightly bigger list of debt and money resources for churches:

- Christians Against Poverty http://www.capuk.org/home/index.php, debt counselling and advice. Tel 01274 760720

CAP have developed a CAP Money course, a 3-session course on money management for use in local churches, and will train local church members to run the course. There’s a training day in Bristol on 25th April. This is a great way of doing something practical for the community. (recommendation from one person who's using the course here)

- Care for the Family http://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/ online resource on debt and money management. CFF has just published The 60 Minute Debt Buster, on money management, which was on sale at the CRE. If it's anything like the Rob Parsons books on marriage and parenting, it will be very good.

- Credit Action http://www.creditaction.org.uk/home.html has information for employees, self employed, singles, young parents, lots of practical advice, and up to date information on debt in the UK. Tel 0207 436 9937

- Church of England links to resources on debt and money. http://www.cofe.anglican.org/debt

This week is also poverty and homelessness action week, lots of downloadable resources for events, church, schools, youth, factsheets etc. on the website (thanks for the link Joe).

And there are various contact numbers/websites at the end of this Care for the Family publication, including the CAB, Business Debtline, National Debtline, and Consumer Credit Counselling services.

1 comment:

  1. David - thanks for this, I have been wondering how to do something about the rising tide of debt problems. Just this week we have heard of one potential customer who has had their house repossessed, one who sent us a bouncing cheque and two who tell us their banks are not honouring their cheques. We are a very small business and we're reaching out to new customers who could be more vulnerable to financial problems than others - but it brings to light that there are issues very close to home.

    I am concerned about the approach of CAP, though I cannot directly put my finger on what I dislike. My thinking is still developing on this issue, but it strikes me that as well as raising awareness within Churches and providing peer support groups, we need more people who are prepared to bite the bullet and get properly trained as debt counsellors to aid the church's service to their communities. It seems that secular organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureaux are providing this training, which takes 6 months, so it is a significant commitment.

    Also you might be interested to know this is Poverty and Homelessness Action Week:

    http://www.actionweek.org.uk/

    ReplyDelete