Resolver warns of a tidal wave of bad credit

18/10/2011 Complaints about credit and debt companies are reaching record levels, according to Resolver, the UK’s biggest free complaint website.

Today, the chief executive of the Financial Services Authority announced that young people are having to borrow to cover basic living costs, Resolver’s latest borrowing figures suggest that people across all demographics are feeling the squeeze as money gets tighter.

Credit card complaints are up 113% in the previous six months, from 1,237 cases to 2,629 from April to September 2017, with concerns about interest, charges and affordability most often cited.

People are feeling the squeeze as money gets tighter.

High-interest lending has come in for particular criticism – and payday lending complaints are up too, with 1,546 cases, an increase of 35% on the previous six months. Traditional loans have increased by 12% to 1481 complaints.

James Walker, founder of Resolver says:

As a nation, we’ve almost become used to high levels of debt. But before we sleepwalk into another crisis, we need to acknowledge that many people are on the borderline of defaulting on their financial commitments – and ask what we can do to help get them get back into the black.

Many people are on the borderline of defaulting.

Young people, in particular, are paying the price for job insecurity, the ‘gig economy’ and rising rental costs. That so many young people are turning to high-cost loans to make ends meet should worry us because it ‘normalises’ borrowing to break even. So while tighter regulation is a good thing, we need to look at what we can do to help all people who are only ever a wage packet away from going under.