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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Middle Class Plunged Into Debt</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">The 21-Gun Salute KNLBCCBPKLJHKCTNMKSFL (Abal0ne) <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">8:53 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right>(1 of 1) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4></TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>7677.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/dealing-with-debt/article.html?in_article_id=441823&in_page_id=62
Middle class plunged into debt
Sean Poulter, Daily Mail
19 May 2008
Middle Britain has been hit by a devastating debt crisis, experts have said, with even apparently well-off people with good jobs plunged into the red.
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</TD><TD><TABLE><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD class=imgCaption203>Even high earners are rackiong up thousands of pounds of debt. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Debt advice centres in middle-class areas have seen increases of up to 500% in the numbers of people pleading for help.
There are even fears of suicides prompted by despair and shame.
Financial advisers gave examples of how deeply the crisis is biting. They included:
• A TV producer on £70,000 a year, with £26,500 credit card and other debts and £25,500 in loans secured against property;
• An IT consultant on £28,500 who has £28,500 debt and a county court judgment against him;
• A retired bank manager with an income of £40,000 and £110,000 of debt from 20 credit cards and loans.
Many household budgets have been pushed to breaking point and beyond by the disappearance of cheap mortgage deals, due to the global credit crunch, coupled with higher bills for food, utilities, petrol and other essentials.
Those tempted by bank offers of cheap credit over the last decade now find they cannot meet the repayments on their debts.
The epidemic is spreading so fast that some debt advice centres are reported to be turning people away because there are simply too few experts to help them. Centres in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, and Congleton, Cheshire - an area dubbed Footballers' Wives territory - have seen increases of 500% in the inquiries they are receiving.
The Congleton centre has 135 clients who share a staggering £5.1m in debt.
The figures on those seeking help come from Transact, which co-ordinates the activities of some 1,200 debt advice centres across the country. Spokesman James Elliott said they were seeing a new type of client.
'In the past it was almost uniquely people on benefits, people in social housing, who went to debt advice agencies,' he said. 'Since the credit crunch started they are seeing a big increase in professional people and homeowners - people who have been pushed over the edge and now can't cope with their outgoings.
'These services are being overwhelmed by a whole new breed of debtor - middle-class people. But it means there is now much less debt advice to go round.' At one time, people who ran up massive credit card bills and overdrafts looked to clear the slate by borrowing more against their homes through remortgaging. But the banks have shut off that escape route with tough new rules on lending to those already carrying big debts.
TV presenter Rosie Millard was living like a millionairess, but didn't have the cash to pay the bills.
Read the story
Community Money Advice, a charity which helps to establish and support money-advice services, reports an 85% increase nationwide in the number of people seeking financial help in the 12 months to December.
There was an increase of 234% in demand for its services in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and rises of 55% in Cambridge and 48% in Horsham, West Sussex.
Chief executive Heather Keates said: 'We are seeing a new type of client. Teachers, police and banking and service sector workers, many of them homeowners, are struggling with mortgages, secured loans and credit card debts.
'They were already financially stretched but they have now been pushed over the edge by dearer credit and the big increases in food and utility costs.'
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Middle class plunged into debt
Sean Poulter, Daily Mail
19 May 2008
Middle Britain has been hit by a devastating debt crisis, experts have said, with even apparently well-off people with good jobs plunged into the red.
<!-- IMAGE CONTROL - DO NOT REMOVE - START IMGCAP --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=203 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>
Debt advice centres in middle-class areas have seen increases of up to 500% in the numbers of people pleading for help.
There are even fears of suicides prompted by despair and shame.
Financial advisers gave examples of how deeply the crisis is biting. They included:
• A TV producer on £70,000 a year, with £26,500 credit card and other debts and £25,500 in loans secured against property;
• An IT consultant on £28,500 who has £28,500 debt and a county court judgment against him;
• A retired bank manager with an income of £40,000 and £110,000 of debt from 20 credit cards and loans.
Many household budgets have been pushed to breaking point and beyond by the disappearance of cheap mortgage deals, due to the global credit crunch, coupled with higher bills for food, utilities, petrol and other essentials.
Those tempted by bank offers of cheap credit over the last decade now find they cannot meet the repayments on their debts.
The epidemic is spreading so fast that some debt advice centres are reported to be turning people away because there are simply too few experts to help them. Centres in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, and Congleton, Cheshire - an area dubbed Footballers' Wives territory - have seen increases of 500% in the inquiries they are receiving.
The Congleton centre has 135 clients who share a staggering £5.1m in debt.
The figures on those seeking help come from Transact, which co-ordinates the activities of some 1,200 debt advice centres across the country. Spokesman James Elliott said they were seeing a new type of client.
'In the past it was almost uniquely people on benefits, people in social housing, who went to debt advice agencies,' he said. 'Since the credit crunch started they are seeing a big increase in professional people and homeowners - people who have been pushed over the edge and now can't cope with their outgoings.
'These services are being overwhelmed by a whole new breed of debtor - middle-class people. But it means there is now much less debt advice to go round.' At one time, people who ran up massive credit card bills and overdrafts looked to clear the slate by borrowing more against their homes through remortgaging. But the banks have shut off that escape route with tough new rules on lending to those already carrying big debts.
TV presenter Rosie Millard was living like a millionairess, but didn't have the cash to pay the bills.
Read the story
Community Money Advice, a charity which helps to establish and support money-advice services, reports an 85% increase nationwide in the number of people seeking financial help in the 12 months to December.
There was an increase of 234% in demand for its services in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and rises of 55% in Cambridge and 48% in Horsham, West Sussex.
Chief executive Heather Keates said: 'We are seeing a new type of client. Teachers, police and banking and service sector workers, many of them homeowners, are struggling with mortgages, secured loans and credit card debts.
'They were already financially stretched but they have now been pushed over the edge by dearer credit and the big increases in food and utility costs.'
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