Where Do People Go For Credit Card Advice?

Record numbers of Brits are seeking help with their debt problems according to new figures from the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB).

The charity is certainly one place that Brits go for credit card advice.

Annual statistics show that it was hit by a staggering 2.37 million separate debt cases. This is an increase of 23 per cent on last year's numbers.

As an average, the figures mean that one in ten British households is asking for the assistance of the Citizen's Advice Bureau in resolving outstanding debt issues.

The report says that debt is its biggest area of advice and makes up 34% of all its enquiries. The largest category for problems remains credit cards. The CAB reports 422,835 issues being dealt with last year, an increase of 11 per cent on the year before.

Other large increases within the debt category include calls about debts to private bailiffs - these were up 38% compared to last year. Enquiries about debts to the Social Fund meanwhile were up by a third. Those getting in touch with the CAB regarding mortgage and secured loans arrears meanwhile were up by 21%.

The total amount of cases dealt with by the charity amounts to 7.1 million. This is an increase of more than a million compared to the year before which amounted to six million.

The charity, which is funded by the public purse, said that 2.1 million individuals had received advice from their local bureaux in total, up from 1.9 million the year before.

However, there are a number of other places that individuals can go for advice about credit cards especially when they don't have a specific issue or complaint.

The rise of sites that allow users to compare credit cards has led to an increase in the amount of information online and there is also help from other non-professionals in a number of online forums.

These sites also help consumers because they list aspects of credit card terms and conditions that the providers themselves often leave out.

For example, when looking at 0% balance transfer credit cards they'll list the provider's allocation of payments policy.

Previous research has shown that people also go for credit card advice from their friends and family.

This is useful because they can share experiences and answer direct questions.

However, it has led to some myths about credit cards continuing to persist even though the laws or rules that they pertain to have since been changed or become obsolete.

For example, it's common that people know that you shouldn't withdraw cash using a credit card but more rare for them to know that gambling transactions also count as a cash withdrawal.

by: Justin Schamotta

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