Household debt levels worsen as bills begin to bite

DEBT levels in the UK are rising as more households struggle to meet their bills, according to reports.

Citizens Advice Bureau says calls for financial help have risen by more than a third compared with last year, while MoneyExpert.com claims more than one in 10 has missed mortgage, credit card or loan repayments in the past six months.

Meanwhile, financial advisers body Unbiased.co.uk claims we have taken on£800m in new debt over the past three months to pay bills.

Britons have neglected to pay a total of five million finance-related bills. Credit cards are the most commonly missed payment, with around 9% of people admitting to not paying a bill in the last half year, according to MoneyExtra. The number of people failing to pay instalments on personal loans has increased by half to more than 1.3 million since the six months leading up to January.

The researchers concluded that those who admitted they felt in greatest need of advice were the least likely to seek it.

FSA fines advisers

THE Financial Services Authority has fined two firms a total of £45,500 for failing to give suitable advice to customers purchasing traded endowment policies.

The FSA said Knowlden Titlow Financial Services and Derrick Hales Financial Planning failed to ensure its advisers fully understood the policies and their risks before recommending them.

In addition to the fines, the companies must stop selling the policies and review all cases where customers may have been sold potentially unsuitable policies, offering redress where necessary.

The FSA also cancelled the permission for Derrick Hales and Kathleen Hales to act as compliance officer and partner for Derrick Hales Financial Planning.

Online insecurity

AS MANY as nine out of 10 Britons do not trust that personal information they give to banks, retailers and online auction sites is kept secure, according to a survey from RSA.

Nearly half do not believe banks and retailers are doing enough to protect their personal data.

Meanwhile, credit report provider Callcredit found that fear of falling victim to identity theft has increased most in the older generation, with 69% of over-55s expressing concern compared with 41% of 25 to 34-year-olds.