A stark warning about the debt crisis hitting Norfolk people has been issued by charity bosses after new statistics showed people are increasingly owing "dangerously" high amounts.
And the troubling new report into the scale of the problem shows women are particularly badly affected.
Charity Norfolk Community Law, which provides free debt advice and support, said the average debt per client has grown by a whopping 113pc as the cost-of-living crisis and mortgage rate rises bite.
The report, which showed the number of people seeking help had gone up from 3,269 to 3,818, also revealed women are increasingly facing the most financial pressure.
The charity said women's utility debts - such as for gas, energy and water - is double that of men, while women are more likely than men to be in part-time jobs, paid less than their male counterparts and have less in savings accounts.
READ MORE: Stats show 3 in 10 Norwich children are living 'in poverty'
David Powles, chief executive of Norfolk Community Law Service, based in Norwich's Prince Of Wales Road, said: "As mortgage rates rise and the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, an increasing number of people are falling into debt or having to use credit cards and/or high-interest loans to pay for essentials.
"This could make their situation much worse and leave them trapped in poverty or facing enforcement action or homelessness.
"The government needs to ease the burden on those who are struggling most.
"There are actions they can take to help people on low incomes, such as tackling loan sharks, widening support and awareness of Credit Unions, reinstating the £20-a-week boost to Universal Credit, and increasing the National Living Wage."
READ MORE: Huge increase in people seeking debt advice amid rising costs of living
Last year, the charity saw clients who had amassed £3m worth of debt. Its advisers helped negotiate more affordable repayments.
The charity represented 155 clients at welfare benefits tribunal hearings - a rise of almost 60pc on the previous year, with £2.3m of benefits awarded and paid back.
READ MORE: Norwich man pushed to poverty used rainwater to wash clothes
A government spokesperson said: "We are committed to helping people escape problem debt and have invested a record £90m to support free debt advice in England.
"We also want to help people avoid getting into problem debt in the first place, and recognise the impact rising prices are having on households across the country.
"That is why we are delivering significant support worth on average £3,300 per household – which includes uprating benefits in line with inflation – and a record increase to the National Living Wage."
It comes as a survey by Which? estimated 1.3 million UK households missed or defaulted on an essential bill in a single month as cost-of-living pressures build up.
The consumer champion group urged utility firms and supermarkets to do more to support customers as pressures build on household finances.
CASE STUDY
Chris* was signposted to the charity by Norwich domestic abuse charity, Leeway.
She was not in paid work because she was looking after her baby daughter, so was getting Universal Credit and Child Benefit, as well as ad hoc child maintenance from her daughter’s father.
She had £12,500 of debts, including rent arrears, council tax arrears, credit cards and payment plans.
Norfolk Community Law Service's debt adviser established Chris was in a deficit budget, with no money left to pay creditors after covering essential outgoings.
She had no assets or savings, and was about to be evicted from the property she rented with her ex-partner.
The charity made sure Chris was getting all benefits she was entitled to and wrote to the most persistent of her creditors, asking for time as she reorganised her finances.
She was supported over the summer and after six months she was finally able to move from the refuge and into social housing.
The charity provided a one-off voucher to help her stock up on food.
With her circumstances having changed, a new assessment was done which showed she had a surplus of £5 each month to pay off her debts, which she is trying to do.
* Name has been changed
ANALYSIS
The figures are stark and serve as a sobering snapshot of the difficulties thousands of people in Norfolk have found themselves in.
The latest 'impact report' by the charity Norfolk Community Law paints a troubling picture of how people in our county are struggling with debt.
The charity, which offers free debt advice and support, says the number of people seeking help is soaring - as is the debt these people are wrestling with.
The average debt has increased a huge amount, year-on-year, spiralling from £7,277 in 2021/22 to £15,550 in 2022/23.
As the cost-of-living crisis and mortgage rate rises really bite, that is an enormous rise. Just two years ago the figure was £4,103.
This is a charity which does excellent work to help get people's finances under control, but it is concerning to read that women are being particularly affected.
The charity said women's utility debts - such as for gas, energy and water - is double that of men.
Women are more likely than men to be in part-time jobs, are still paid less than their male counterparts and do not have so much money in savings accounts which they can draw upon.
It is excellent news that the charity, through tribunals, helped to get £2.3m of benefits people were entitled to paid to them.
But that begs the question about why those people were not getting what they were rightly owed in the first place. Clearly, the system is not working as it should.
Many of us are finding it harder in the current financial climate. The cost of everyday items has gone up yet, for many hard-working people, wages have not.
It can be easy to lazily stereotype people who have racked up debts - to think of them as people who simply haven't been smart about managing their money.
The truth is that the people you speak to every day could be in difficulty and struggling to cope.
And the case of Chris, outlined in our story, shows how situations such as domestic violence can leave people in dire straits.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt would do well to listen to the way charities such as Norfolk Community Law are having to help people pick up the pieces.
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