As Many as one in seven UK adults have turned to debt consolidation over the past three years in an attempt to get their borrowing under control.
Research from price-comparison website MoneyExpert.com suggests that millions of people have taken out unsecured loans or remortgaged the house in a bid to put their debts in one place.
Debt Consolidation Help
It found that the average loan taken out to clear previous debts was as high as GBP13,000.
Unsecured personal loans were the most common form of Debt Consolidation Help, with 36% of consolidators favouring the option, but a sizeable chunk are prepared to add to the cost of their home loan, with 18% remortgaging.
Transferring debt to a zero-rate credit card was the favoured method of 15% of consolidators, research found.
The survey took in the opinions of more than 2,500 adults nationwide.
Regionally, the highest amounts being consolidated at GBP16,065 were in Yorkshire, while East Anglia and Scotland followed with GBP15,642 and GBP14,439 respectively.
Research indicated that up to 360,000 people - around 6% of consolidators - took out a loan greater that GBP50,000.
Sean Gardner, chief executive of MoneyExpert.com, said: "The UK's debt crisis is a serious concern and borrowers are starting to feel the strain.
"Debt consolidation help is entirely sensible and a good way to get your finances under control if you owe money to different lenders at varying rates of interest. However, it only works if you accept consolidation is a wake-up call to get your borrowing under control and then work to become debt free."
COPYRIGHT 2007 Financial Times Ltd
