14% of households are worried about debt

Only 14% of households are worried about debt, but fewer than one in five (19%) are classed as resilient when it comes to their use of it, according to research by the HL Savings & Resilience Barometer.

The data also showed that across the board, almost half (46%) of debt is used for consumption rather than building for the future. When looking at repayments as a proportion of income, only a third of people are resilient (34%), falling to one in five among the top fifth of earners (19%).

Borrowing weighs more heavily on the fifth of households that earn the most, with monthly repayments of £415 and a mortgage of £1,096.

Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance at Hargreaves Lansdown said “People have been lulled into a false sense of security around debt. Fewer than one in ten (9%) are behind on repayments and bills, so most of the rest feel like they’re on top of things: only 14% of people are worried about their borrowing.

“However, delve a little deeper, and people are taking all kinds of risks they aren’t aware of. They’re borrowing too much – and too much as a percentage of their income, they don’t have enough certainty over what these debts will cost, and almost half of it is classed as ‘bad debt’.”