DEBT: THE PANDEMIC’S LOOMING CRISIS

Citizens Advice says its advisors have helped over two million people since the pandemic began

MILLIONS of people have sought out advice on debt and other issues since the coronavirus pandemic began during what a charity has described as its “busiest ever year”. Citizens Advice says the calls and messages it has received over the past 12 months have charted a “worrying increase” in the need for advice, for foodbank referrals and for charitable grants.

Since March 2020, Citizen Advice’s online self-help advice pages have been viewed 62.8 million times - which is almost 9.8 million more than in 2019.

Meanwhile, the charity’s frontline advisers have given one-to-one advice to two million people, or 18 people every minute.

At the start of the pandemic, advisors saw a significant reduction in the number of people asking for support about debt as payment holidays and other protections kicked in.

The charity says these emergency protections meant people could postpone seeking help while they tackled more immediate day-to-day issues.

However, that changed in June, when numbers started to steadily increase for a variety of reasons, including people running out of savings to pay household bills, or being unable to repay loans taken out at the start of the pandemic.

Citizens Advice says it saw a steep rise in the number of people seeking help to access charitable support and for help with fuel debts.

It also saw a big increase in online searches for help and advice over county court judgements.

The charity says this suggests that increasing numbers of people are having county court judgements issued against them for nonpayment of debts.

Without further interventions, Citizens Advice expects debt issues to increase.

The charity says it saw a staggering increase in the need for help with redundancy throughout the first lockdown, but this nosedived as the initial extension to the furlough scheme extension was mooted.

People’s questions about the furlough scheme also changed. From March to May 2020, they were largely around working and being made redundant while on furlough, but as people became used to the scheme the questions changed to getting a second job.

As the third lockdown and homeschooling took hold, the focus was instead on if people could ask to be furloughed.

Demand for the charity’s “Help to Claim Universal Credit” service surged at the start of the pandemic, but flattened from May onwards.

There were 6.0 million people on Universal Credit as of January 14 this year - almost double the number claiming on March 12, 2020.

In a stark reminder of the human cost of this pandemic, the charity also saw a big rise in views of its web pages on wills and deaths.

Alistair Cromwell, Acting Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Our data shines a light on how people’s worries and fears have changed throughout this pandemic.

“It has given us early warnings of the problems ahead, and that alarm is now signalling the return of debt problems as people deal with the fallout of job losses, lower wages and less stability.

“Behind the numbers are the individuals who have been buffeted by a wave of problems triggered by the pandemic.

“Our frontline advisers will continue to be there to support them, but as a nation we must ensure no-one is left behind on the road to recovery.”

Citizens Advice was formed at the outbreak of the Second World War to help people with problems ranging from evacuation to rations

The charity was already offering remote advice before the pandemic, and so was well-placed to adapt as the crisis took hold.

In 2020 it helped 77 per cent more people by phone than it did the previous year. The numbers of people who received advice by webchat also rocketed by 83 per cent, and by email 41 per cent.