41% of Scots Worried About Their Incomes During Virus Crisis

More than four in ten adults across Scotland are worried about their incomes and their financial wellbeing in the context of the coronavirus crisis.

A new poll carried out on behalf of Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) found that 14 per cent of people are ‘very concerned’ about their income, while 27 per cent would describe themselves as ‘fairly concerned’ about it.

The fear among CAS advisory teams is that the numbers of people who struggle to cover the costs of essential outgoings will swell significantly as the pandemic situation goes on.

However, there has been some helpful news for people in debt recently with action taken by regulators to ease some of the pressures on individuals to pay their credit card bills or their personal loan repayments.

The message from Citizens Advice to any Scots struggling financially right now is to “access the support you are entitled to”.

“Both the Scottish and UK governments, as well as industry regulators, have taken significant steps to ease the short term pressure on people meeting the costs of daily living,” said Myles Fitt, a financial health spokesperson at CAS.

He also noted that “CABs across the country are still delivering advice in these challenging times, either on the phone or electronically via local advisers”. 

The recent polling carried out on behalf of CAS shows widespread worries about covering everyday household bills and paying for essentials like food.

Around 27 per cent of the Scots surveyed said they’re concerned about meeting their mortgage repayments, 31 per cent aren’t sure they can make their debt repayments and 29 per cent worry about whether they’ll be able to pay their council tax this month.

Experts behind the polling say the results make clear the coronavirus crisis is causing serious financial problems for significant numbers of Scottish households and consumers.

According to Mark Diffley, who designed the survey carried out for CAS, the likelihood of serious financial hardship being caused by the virus and the lockdown situation should not go unnoticed by relevant policymakers and decisionmakers. 

If you live anywhere in Scotland and you are worried about paying your personal debts then Scotland Debt Solutions can help. Contact us directly to arrange a FREE and confidential consultation.