Busiest day for St Albans debt centre
Dates - Credit: Archant
A local debt centre was expecting to have its busiest post-Christmas day at the start of this week.
Christians Against Poverty (CAP), which has a centre based in St Paul’s Church, Blandford Road, St Albans, has found that instead of the mythical peak on January 19, the most calls for debt help are received on the second Monday in February.
Centre manager Rachel Martin said: “Every week, the busiest day for debt help calls is a Monday, when people have had time over the weekend to resolve to seek help.
“We see a rise in calls during January and February because most people can’t face tackling their finances before Christmas. When these two elements come together, we see our busiest time. As our reach extends to more areas, with more debt coaches, we are set to see more people booked in than ever before.”
January proved to be a busy week for people seeking debt help advice - in the first working week of 2015, CAP received 479 calls.
Recent research from CAP has shown that people often struggle for years with personal debt following income changes caused by events such as losing a job or a relationship breakdown.
Rachel added: “Four in 10 people believe that no-one can help them with their debts, according to some research we’ve done. It can feel like you’ve hit a brick wall but we see ‘impossible’ situations where people get their debts cleared.
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“There are people to help and it can get sorted, however complicated or dire it seems.”
Anyone requesting help from CAP should ring 0800 328 0006 and will be booked in for a home visit from Rachel, who spends time learning what has happened before showing a way forward to get out of debt.
