Figures show the true picture

This week, I thought I would show some of the figures that highlight the financial state of our  economy and the daily impact it is having on the end consumer (figure estimates from creditaction):

-          318 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt every day (based on Q4 2011 trends). This is equivalent to 1 person every 62 seconds during each working day.

-          1,473 Consumer County Court Judgements (CCJs) are issued every day (based on Q4 2011 trends). The average value of a Consumer CCJ in Q4 2011 was £2,949.

-          Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales dealt with 8,518 new debt problems every working day during the year ending December 2011.

-          93 properties are repossessed every day (based on Q4 2011 trends).

-          1,896 people a day reported they had become redundant between November 2011 and January 2012.

The average household debt in the UK (including mortgages) was £56,058 in February.  The average amount owed per UK adult (including mortgages) was £29,671 in February.  This was around 123% of average earnings.

The estimated average mortgage outstanding for the 11.2m households that carry mortgage debt stood at £111,358 in February.

The typical first-time buyer deposit in January 2012 was 20% (around £30,303). The average first-time buyer borrowed 3.20 times their income and the average first-time buyer loan was an estimated £121,212.

However, saving the best until last - a survey by Unbiased.co.uk has found that nearly half of all mortgage holders have failed to look at their mortgage arrangements in the last three years. 49% of borrowers admit that they have not reviewed their mortgage since the Bank of England’s Base Rate fell to 0.5% in March 2009.  Indeed, 56% of mortgage holders say that they are in fact unaware of the interest rate that they are currently paying on their deal!  Of those who do know their current rate, fixed mortgage rate holders are paying an average rate of 4.63%. However, around 42% are paying a rate of 5% or higher.  Yet, the average Mortgage Interest rate was 3.33% at the end of February!  I have to ask why?  When was the last time you reviewed your mortgage?