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Debtline callers rise to more than 750 a day

January 7th, 2009 by admin | 0 Comments | Filed in Daily News, Debt, Retail

Calls for advice to the National Debtline have increased by more than 40% – from about 16,000 a month in November 2007 to 23,000 in November 2008.

Demand for a business debt advice doubled over the same period.

Paul Mullins, chief executive of the National Debtline, said the numbers helped by the service because they were in arrears on mortgage or secured loan repayments had risen by 30%.

Consumer minister Gareth Thomas said that the government was increasing funding for the service and urged struggling consumers to use the telephone helpline.

“It is imperative that when people are struggling with debt, they seek assistance as soon as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile doorstep lender Cattles is axing 1,000 jobs across the country.

The company, that calls door-to-door to lend to people on low income or who cannot get a loan from their bank, is slashing the amount of new business by 75% because banks won’t underwrite the loans.

One in five Cattles employees will lose their jobs. The company will close a call centre in Hull, where the company was founded in 1927, with the loss of 400 jobs. A further 600 will be cut across its UK branch network.

Most of Cattles’s business involves loans that are then repaid monthly by direct debit or doorstep lending, where agents turn up at borrowers’ home each week to collect interest payments.

Cattles has been badly hit by the credit crunch, having been reliant on borrowing from banks to raise cash to lend. The company hoped to operate as a bank to set up accounts for investors, but admitted that it is still in discussions with the Financial Services Authority over a retail banking licence application.

Shares in Cattles fell by nearly 6% to 27.75p. They have lost nearly 90% of their value in the last 12 months.