Scots forced to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’
More than a fifth of Scots have been forced to borrow money from one lender to clear debts with another firm, according to new research.
A similar proportion admit to hiding debt from their family and one in six has revealed that they concealed it from their partner, a survey by Payplan has shows.
And while 36 per cent would look for help if they had debts between £2,000 and £5,000, one in five said they would wait until they were more than £20,000 in the red before seeking debt advice.
But 55 per cent of Scots consider it no more acceptable to be overdrawn now than it was ten years ago, a reversal of the UK-wide trend.
The findings are published just days before the Financial Conduct Authority takes over the regulation of the £200 billion consumer credit market.
The initial rules for the market, which come into force on 1 April, will cover payday loans, credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans and other forms of credit agreement.