CAB predicts major debt payment crisis in NI

With the Bank of England poised to raise interest rates tomorrow and court action on mortgage defaults in Northern Ireland up 32% on this time last year, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has predicted a major debt payment crisis in the province in the coming months.

CABNI Chief Executive Derek Alcorn said he was anticipating a huge increase in workload, in respect of debt and money advice, over the next six months following speculation that interest rates are to rise by 0.25% on Thursday.

"We advise people not to ignore the debt, to speak to the lender as quickly as possible, and to seek independent help and advice from an agency such as Citizens Advice," he added.

Research commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for Northern Ireland from the University of Bristol in 2002 showed that Northern Ireland has 12,500 households in multiple debt and that in 2002 the voluntary sector was able to assist just 1,800 of these households. At the end of July personal debt in the UK exceeded £1 trillion.

However, Mr Alcorn said that by following simple advice supplied by his agency, many people could improve their financial situation:

• don't panic and don't ignore the problem, it won't go away
• don't take out any further credit - you'll only get yourself in worse trouble
• gather together all the documents you have about your debts and make a list of all the people you owe money to, how much you owe to each one and what type of debt it is (mortgage, rates, fuel bill, overdraft, credit card, bank loan)
• work out your most important debts. You need to agree repayments on these debts first before tackling your credit debts
• work out your total income from all sources (use either monthly or weekly figures - don't mix the two). You may be able to increase your income by checking you are paying the right amount of tax or claiming benefits
• and seek advice from your local CAB if you would like them to check whether you are receiving all you are entitled to.

CAB is the largest advice agency in Northern Ireland dealing with over 206,749 queries per year via 28 main offices and 100 other outlets.

In the year 2003 – 2004 the Agency dealt with 117,210 queries relating to social security benefits.

(MB)