Debt and benefits accounted for nearly two-thirds of the issues dealt with by the Dundee Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) last year.
A total 61% of the 18,070 issues raised at the branch in 2012-13 fell into the two categories. Speaking before the bureau’s annual meeting director Mary Kinninmonth said the figures confirmed what the branch already knew.
“These figures are for 2012-13 and that was when we first started to see the impact of welfare reform changes,” she said.
“In terms of benefits we started to see issues for people with long-term health issues. Disability Living Allowance issues shot up.
“About 10% of all benefits issues were about housing benefit, and within that there could well have been concerns about bedroom tax.”
The figures relate to the period just before the spare room subsidy was introduced on April 1. While benefit concerns accounted for 30% of the issues raised at the branch, 31% were related to debt.
The most common debt problems were to do with credit, store and charge cards.
One case study in the CAB’s director’s report discussed a single parent who had taken out three payday loans as well as over-committing with doorstep creditors Provident and Greenwoods.
According to the report: “The only way the client could access loans was with high-interest lenders and the client advised that gaining access was very easy as not one creditor asked her if she was working or not.
“The client’s total debt was over £6,000.”
They were eventually advised to seek bankruptcy, which improved their quality of life.
Ms Kinninmonth said: “Debt continues to be an issue. Money issues just continue.”
She said she hoped there would not be such a big peak in issues in the 2013-14 results as people become more familiar with the welfare reforms.
“I think it might slightly lessen because there was a lot of activity last year,” she said.