Cash strapped middle income families are now seeking advice to help sort out their debt problems as the cost of credit rises and fixed-rate mortgage deals end. There has been a huge increase in people seeking help in the normally affluent areas of England and Wales – for example Tunbridge Wells has seen an increase of over 200%.

It is reported that many homeowners are struggling with mortgages, secured loans and credit card debts. They were already financially stretched with the added pressures of dearer credit together with big increases in food and utility costs.

Other factors causing problems are stock market investments that have gone wrong, debts from property and also the fact that many borrowed money when interest rates were low to pay for extras and luxuries. Many rarely seek to go bankrupt, because they are usually homeowners and would face repossession, but recently there has been an increase in people losing their homes because they left it too late to seek advice.

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Article referenced from http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/may/18/debt.creditcards