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Over-Indebtedness

The term over-indebtedness is used to describe debt which has become a major burden for the borrower. Over-indebtedness can be caused by, and contributes to, social exclusion, financial exclusion and poverty.

The Government is committed to social justice and prosperity for all. Over-indebtedness presents a barrier to delivery of objectives across Government, from tackling child poverty and social exclusion, to reducing barriers to work, and encouraging appropriate saving and investment

Tackling Over-indebtedness

There is much going on across Government to tackle over-indebtedness. This all supports the overall strategy of

(i) helping people to avoid becoming over-indebted

(ii) providing support for those who do.

This comprehensive complementary activity builds on the cross-departmental over-indebtedness Action Plan, that was issued in 2004. Activities are detailed individually on BIS's and other Government Departments' websites.

Debt Monitoring Papers

Debt monitoring papers monitor aggregate levels of household debt, general macroeconomic and debt market conditions and the level of problem debt.

Household debt monitoring paper H1 2008PDF document (229KB)

Household debt monitoring paper H2 2007PDF document (340KB)

Household debt monitoring paper H1 2007PDF document (277KB)

Previous debt monitoring papers back to Q1 2005 are also available.

Drivers of Over-indebtedness Report

In line with a request in the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) 2007 to conduct a review of current evidence on the drivers of problem debt, BERR commissioned Professor Richard Disney at the University of Nottingham to carry out this work, completed in December 2008.

This report utilises both qualitative evidence – from in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the credit market – and quantitative evidence from two large-scale household panel data sets – Family and Children Survey; British Household Panel Survey – to address a range of issues, including: definitions of over-indebtedness, incidence and persistence of over-indebtedness across households and potential ‘triggers’ that move households into, or out of, potential debt problems.

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