With over 1 billion items of mail advertising loans and credits cards being sent out to households each year, it's no wonder that personal debt is sharply on the rise in the UK.
Approximately 27 items of "junk mail" per adult dropped through the letter box in 2005 alone, in order to persuade potential customers to take out credit and, in turn, add to their personal debt.
Figures published by debt charity Credit Action reveal that the number of credit cards in existence in the UK now outnumber the country's residents, with total credit card debt standing at over £50 million in March 2007. Despite offering what seem to be good deals, the average interest rate on credit card lending is a whacking 16.45 per cent, 11.25 per cent above the base rate.