/ 5 January 2012

Debt counselling enquiries double

Over the festive season and into the New Year, debt counsellors DebtBusters has seen a doubling of enquiries compared to the same period last year.

Over the festive season and into the first week of the New Year, debt counselling business DebtBusters has seen a doubling of enquiries in comparison to the same period last year.

“We have been very concerned over the large increase in unsecured debt over the previous 12 months and it looks like consumers have been delaying the inevitable and getting more unsecured credit to make repayments on all their other debt,” said CEO Ian Wason.

“In 2008 the average number of credit agreements our clients had was 11, this has now increased to 13 in 2011 — a worrying trend. It looks like consumers are finally seeing the light that the only way to get debt free is with the help of a debt counsellor rather than borrowing more money.”

Fortunately due to the changes in the debt counselling industry in 2011 such as the Debt Counselling Rules System (DCRS) DebtBusters now has mandates from 95% of the credit providers to extend terms and reduce interest rates down to zero if necessary, resulting in over 80% of clients being placed on an approved plan to be “unsecured debt” free within 60 months, Wason noted.

He added that over 75% of clients are homeowners struggling with their repayments.

“The introduction of DCRS has also meant that we are able to reach agreement with the banks on reasonable repayments for these home loans, enabling to stay in their homes while they rid themselves of credit card and personal loan debt.” — I-Net Bridge