Oxfordshire debt advisers urge people to get help as financial pressures rise
They are preparing for a busy period as many see the impact of Christmas spending
Debt advisers in Oxfordshire are urging anyone struggling to keep up with payments after Christmas to get help.
Tina Szucs, a debt caseworker at Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire, highlighted that festive finances can push people over the edge when combined with existing debts and bills.
"We have always a rush in January, so after the Christmas, when people probably spent too much, and they might have other debt as well," Tina said.
She explained that for some people, paying off debt can be much simpler than others: “If you have slightly overspent at Christmas on a credit card and you're able to pay it back in the normal way that tends not to be a problem, but a lot of people are living with multiple debts.
So it's not just Christmas. They're struggling to pay energy bills, water, sometimes council tax, other loans and so on.”
Tina said that having debt can be very stressful and many people often try to ignore the problem.
"In the extreme cases, people are receiving letters from debt collectors or they might have a visit from someone at the door," she said. "Often people have stopped opening letters - it's too frightening to confront it. So that's really a sign that you should be getting help from a debt advice agency."
She is reminding people that free debt advice services are available in Oxfordshire through Citizens Advice or national charity StepChange and the National Debtline.
These organisations offer guidance to help individuals look at their finances, plan repayments, and manage stress moving forward.
Tina said that recognising the problem is usually the biggest barrier to action: "It's that first step of saying, 'I've got an issue here.' That's the most difficult."