THE average Scot seeking debt help from Citizens Advice is more than £20,000 in the red, according to figures out today.
In the first in-depth survey of its debt clients for five years, Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has revealed that the number of people approaching it for advice on debt has doubled in that time.
The report, "Drowning in debt", found that the avera
ge total debt of CAS debt clients – who are more likely to be unemployed than the Scottish average – reached £20,193 at the end of 2008, a 50 per cent rise in just five years.
One in ten had non-mortgage debts of more than £50,000, with the amounts owed ranging between £100 and £239,346.
The personal debt crisis has intensified since the start of the credit crunch and is being exacerbated by increasingly aggressive tactics from creditors, CAS claimed.
Kaliani Lyle, chief executive of CAS, claimed that for many Scots debt has become a sad reality.
"People take out a loan or new credit card because they can't make ends meet," she said.
"Then they fall behind with their repayments and before long they are spiralling into debts that they can't control."
She called on lenders and the Scottish Government to give low-income groups better access to affordable mainstream credit and said those being harassed by creditors needed better legal protection.
The charity also urged the Scottish government to abolish the £100 fee for the low-income, low-asset route to bankruptcy.
Parliamentary motions backing the findings of the report are to be lodged at both Holyrood and Westminster today. .
For more on this story, see Smart Money in The Scotsman on Saturday.
