HUNDREDS OF people from Fife, Dundee and Perth have sought help with debt in the last 12 months.
Fife is 61st, Dundee 68th and Perth 75th on a table compiled by Payplan, the free debt advice service funded by donations from the credit industry.
The list is compiled from the number of inquiries received and the amounts ofunsecured, secured and total average debts.
The service received 128 calls frompeople in Fife whose unsecured debts (including credit card and payday loans) amounted to £2.267 million and secured debts (mainly mortgages) were £6.797m. The total average debt figure for Fife was £70, 820.
Payplan received 94 calls from people in Dundee who had unsecured debts of £1.653m, secured debts of £5.264m and a total average debt figure of £73,600.
Perth people made 45 calls about £857,000-worth of unsecured debt and £2.315m of secured debt problems. The total average debt figure for Perth was £70,521.
The area producing the most calls was unsurprisingly London at 3,917. They had problems with unsecured debt worth £76.593m and secured debt of £237.83m with a total average debt of £80,272.
Lowest in the list in 96th place was tax-haven Guernsey from where Payplan received only four calls. The value of unsecured debt with which they had problems was £117, 388 and secured debt £517,300. The total average debt was £158,672.
Payplan director Jason Eaves said: “We know that on average only one in six people with debt problems will seek help. Often these people feel isolated and alone and don’t know where to turn.
“We are being told that the economy is ‘out of intensive care’ but there are still a few years ahead where people will continue to struggle financially.
“Many families have seen their budgets squeezed. Some parts of the country are in recovery while other parts are still in decline; but even in more affluent areas, if wage increases have not matched the rising cost of living then debt is still a problem.
“Many people are struggling to make ends meet so, if mortgage rates rise and gas and electricity prices increase, it will push many more people into problem debt.”
People should seek help and not take out more debt as “once debt is managed then people can get on with their lives.”
aargo@thecourier.co.uk