Loan Debts Causing Health And Family Problems
As the average level of debts on personal loans and credit cards continues to increase for consumers in the UK, a new survey has revealed the impact that this is having, not only on individual’s finances, but also on their health and family life.
The survey, which was conducted by the debt charity Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS), found that out of 372 people interviewed who had large loan and card debts, 83 per cent claimed that their debts were having a huge negative impact on their lives.
Unmanageable personal loan debts have been blamed for placing a large strain on the borrower’s close relationships with their partners and in some cases, their children. Around 37 per cent thought that their loan debts had had an adverse effect on their relationship with a partner.
This could go a long way to explain why many individuals choose not to tell their partners about their loans and credit card balances, with only around one third of people turning to their partner for help and support.
Ten per cent of borrowers say that they have told nobody about their loan problems, largely out of shame or embarrassment that they are unable to handle their personal loans and manage their money well.
It is not only relationships which are suffering. Personal loan and card debts are also having a negative impact on people’s work and health, with almost half of those interviewed saying that their loan debts were affecting their health and 65 per cent believing that they were struggling at work due to their debts.
Delroy Corinaldi of the CCCS said “There is a lot of focus on the economic implications of the personal debt crisis but we are only starting to understand the human cost of the problems.”
