Advice on bankruptcy may have played a part in why fewer Britons chose to take out personal loans and new credit cards in October 2012.
The most recent report from the Finance & Leasing Association, published earlier this week, shows a fall in loan approvals and credit card lending in October, and in the three months up to and including it.
In both instances, the total amount of new lending granted fell by 5%, while the full year to October saw 1% less lending approved in the form of credit cards and personal loans.
However, other areas of the lending market are now more likely to figure in the advice on bankruptcy given to Brits.
For instance, store instalment credit grew by 10% year-on-year to October, while second-charge mortgages were up by 14%, potentially putting people’s homes at risk.
The greatest growth area of all was in the car finance segment, up by 19% over the previous year.
But with an overall rise of 5% in total consumer finance, the statistics on personal loans are just one trend-bucking element in an overall picture of heightened risk for many Britons.
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