Leading debt charity Advice NI fears that any increase in interest rates will leave thousands of homeowners struggling with debt.
Advice NI’s Debt Action service launched its annual report on Tuesday 30 September at an event in the Stormont Hotel. Debt Action NI helped over 5,200 clients deal with over £62 million in debt including £14 million of mortgage debt between April 2013 and March 2014. Over 2,000 of these clients were homeowners.
The report also highlighted a steady increase in the number of people who have been left with mortgage shortfall debt after their property has been repossessed and sold by their mortgage lender. Last year Debt Action NI dealt with over £13 million of mortgage shortfall debt and the charity fears that this figure will increase should interest rates rise.
Gemma Willis, Debt Action NI project manager said: “The Debt Action NI service has made a real difference in helping people to cope with their debt situation. Our figures show that mortgage debt is consistently our largest debt so we anticipate that any increase in interest rates will undoubtedly lead to a greater demand for the Debt Action NI service. We know that over half of our clients have no savings and 1 in ten present to our service with a deficit budget. Given that a 0.5% increase in interest rates can increase the cost of a £100,000 mortgage by approximately £60 per month we can see debts spiralling out of control.”
The report also indicates that credit cards and loans are within the top five debts dealt with by Debt Action NI service and that an increase in interest rates will obviously impact monthly payments on these types of debt.
The keynote speaker at the event, Paul Lewis, presenter of the popular BBC Radio 4 show, Money Box, encouraged anyone struggling with debt to seek help:
He said: “If debt keeps you awake, or is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning, get advice from a debt charity such as Advice NI’s Debt Action service. Debt only gets worse if it is ignored.”
If you are struggling with debt you can contact Debt Action NI by calling the Freephone helpline on 0800 917 4607 to speak directly to an adviser between 8am and 9pm Monday – Friday and 9am -3pm on a Saturday or you can text the word “Action” to 81025 and an adviser will call you back.
You can browse the dedicated website:
where you can send an appointment request, email an adviser, chat to a virtual adviser or use an online budgeting tool. You can also find a list of the contact details and location of advisers in your local area on the website.
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