Almost two million households skipped paying a major bill last month as the cost of Christmas put pressure on budgets already under strain.
Consumer group Which? said it was concerned that many families could face financial crisis in the new year, as they struggle with outstanding festive payments and the rising cost of living. A spokesperson for the financial charity said that the start of 2023 could be crunch time and missed payments could continue as households counted the cost of rising food and energy bills and increased interest rates on mortgages and loans.
Around 1.9m households reported missing at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill payment in the last month, with 6.4% of renters missing a housing payment compared 2.5% of mortgage holders. Of those surveyed by Which?, 3.1% reported missing a loan or credit card payment and 4.6% reported skipping a bill payment. The most common type of bill missed was energy, at 2.3% of households, followed by Council Tax (1.9%), phone (1.6%) and broadband (1.4%).
