big credit card debts

worriedwilf

Just been reading an article about christmas debt and it states that the average person has about £3000 on credit cards following christmas.

At our worst we had more like £20K!!

How common is it for people to have such large amounts on cards. I don't know many people, if anyone who has had the sort of credit card balances that we have had.

KT2802

At the worst I had about £10K on credit cards. Plus storecards etc. on top of this. From what I have seen on this forum, I think it is quite common. Very worrying really as it is a hell of a lot of money (in my opinion and to me).

Newyorkdreams

I think it's more common than people think. Many people have debt problems but it's hidden. It's not socially acceptable to be in serious debt and people can judge you very harshly.

KT2802

Newyorkdreams wrote: »

I think it's more common than people think. Many people have debt problems but it's hidden. It's not socially acceptable to be in serious debt and people can judge you very harshly.

I agree with this, a lot. People I know also don't seem to take it very seriously or understand when I tell them that I can't come along to such and such event because I need to clear my debts.

Kate_fixing_it

I think you have to remember that you never know what goes on behind closed doors. So in fact you don't know anyone that has admitted the balances you had. After a few weeks on my DFW journey I leaned on my three closest friends. All of whom I expected to be supportive whilst chastising me for being so ridiculously stupid. Turns out all three had been in the same or worse situations - one offered me his savings as a bail out which I refused (my mess and what would I really learn if he did that?).

I appreciate we're all here because we're looking for help but I remember hearing something on the radio about post-christmas debt and how something like only 10% of people in debt realise it's a problem and only half of those take steps to tackle it.

This time last year I had about half the debt I have now but as I never missed a minimum I never saw it as a problem. I also think it's relative to income, a £3k debt to a single parent in a part time minimum wage job could be far more stressful than than a £30k debt to a dual income high earning couple with no kids.

I think if you knew the reality of the lives of the people around you then you'd be surprised, I know I was.

Kate x

dancingfairy

I'd say 20k is probably average to be honest :eek:. A lot of people seem to have around that much debt on here, some much, much more (over 50k). It's far more common than you think. And that's only people on here, there must be a lot more out there who don't even think about it.
I don't know whether Martin's ever done a pole on it?
Also the debt charities normally release figures showing how many people they've helped so you might find those surprising as well.
df
Edit: I found some figures here which seem to disagree with me. Perhaps people on here have much higher debt figures than the 'average'. http://themoneycharity.org.uk/debt-statistics

Nebulous2

That figure of £2243 per household for interest is the outstanding one for me. Think what people could do with that money!

It is difficult to know what state people's finances are in, as many people lie about them, even to themselves.

I've seen 6 months net income listed as a watershed figure for unsecured debt. Anything over that becomes quite difficult to manage. Again I would imagine that would be more challenging for people on very low incomes.

fatbelly

Stepchange produce a very informative yearbook. Here are some bullet points:

Average debt has fallen from £25,664 in 2008 to £17,635 in 2012
• For 78 percent of clients, problem debt has undermined their self-confidence and ability to support themselves or their family
• On average self-employed clients owe £10,000 more than all other clients
• Over-60s have the highest level of unsecured debt (£22,435)

FireWyrm

worriedwilf wrote: »

Just been reading an article about christmas debt and it states that the average person has about £3000 on credit cards following christmas.

At our worst we had more like £20K!!

How common is it for people to have such large amounts on cards. I don't know many people, if anyone who has had the sort of credit card balances that we have had.

It is really really common. I've seen CC debts in the 60 to 80K bracket, but the universe only knows how they managed to obtain that. Banks are still offering stupid amounts of credit. I myself can raise £21K on credit cards and another £7K on overdrafts now, today, if I wanted to be so stupid.

My parents thought the world was ending when they had a £300 overdraft they were permanently in.

Nebulous2

FireWyrm wrote: »

It is really really common. I've seen CC debts in the 60 to 80K bracket, but the universe only knows how they managed to obtain that. Banks are still offering stupid amounts of credit. I myself can raise £21K on credit cards and another £7K on overdrafts now, today, if I wanted to be so stupid.

My parents thought the world was ending when they had a £300 overdraft they were permanently in.

Very easily if my experience is anything to go by. I got that level of credit by dabbling in 0% credit cards and not closing them when I stopped using them. I have over £50k worth of available credit in my wallet right now, and since finding my way here a couple of months ago I have closed down two cards with £21,500 of credit limit between them. I used to joke that I could buy a flat on credit cards, with the only downside being that they would expect the money back.

FireWyrm

Nebulous2 wrote: »

Very easily if my experience is anything to go by. I got that level of credit by dabbling in 0% credit cards and not closing them when I stopped using them. I have over £50k worth of available credit in my wallet right now, and since finding my way here a couple of months ago I have closed down two cards with £21,500 of credit limit between them. I used to joke that I could buy a flat on credit cards, with the only downside being that they would expect the money back.

Stupid amounts of credit. I usually have less sympathy for those who get themselves into that sort of debt and consider that one is largely responsible for one's own financial situation, but it simply shouldnt be possible to obtain that sort of credit in the normal way of things. On every application I have ever looked at, they have asked (rightly) for a breakdown of all other cards in my possession. I can only imagine people are economical with the truth when filling out the application, but still, a credit check should highlight the discrepancy between what they say they have and what they really have. If the banks were exercising due diligence, it shouldnt be possible to run up such debts on unsecured lending.