Anyone considering a consolidation loan should seek some free, independent advice before committing, one industry group has said.
Chris Tapp, director of Credit Action, said that while a consolidation loan may be best, the first step for anyone with debt problems should be a free advice agency such as the National Debt Line or Citizen's Advice Bureau .
He said: "Often it's an awareness issue with people; they just don't know that advice is freely available."
The agencies will sit down with a person and work out what an individual can afford to pay towards their debts, he said.
Mr Tapp added that there were a number of options available to those with debt problems .
These include, debt management plans, Individual Voluntary Agreements and consolidation loans.
According to the Insolvency Service, there were 26,956 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in the second quarter of 2007.
Of these 16,258 were bankruptcies and 10,698 were Individual Voluntary Agreements.





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