David Prosser, The Independent
Published: 03 January 2007
Grant Thornton said it expected 30,000 individuals to become insolvent during the first quarter of 2007. It predicted a third of such cases would be a result of excessive spending in the festive season.
"Last year, during the period straight after Christmas, when bills started to hit the doormat, we witnessed the highest ever number of people going into personal insolvency and this year things could be even worse," said Mike Gerrard, head of the accountants' personal insolvency service.
"Since last Christmas, several developments such as interest rate rises, sky-high utility bills and increasing unemployment have pushed more people into financial trouble."
A spokeswoman for Citizens Advice said: "We do see evidence of a Christmas debt hangover, and this month we expect to exceed the 140,000 debt problems that Citizens Advice bureaux dealt with in January 2006," she said. |
