These days, more people are getting into credit card debt. Pensioners aged 65 to 69 and who unlocked equity from their homes had average credit card debts of £8,881. This figure increase to £9,048 for those aged 70 and over.

The company which conducted the survey of over 3500 customers has warned that many over-65’s are unlikely to ever be able to clear all their credit card bills.
The UK Government has announced plans to force card firms to clear debts at higher rates of interest first as well as banning rate rises and credit increases for people in financial difficulty and giving customers 60 days to reject rate rises.

It follows credit card companies increasing average interest rates to a 12 year high of almost 19 per cent.

New changes to credit card law are aimed at tackling the reducing the amount of consumer debt and irradiating irresponsible lending practices among lenders.

A spokesperson from a leading financial website described the new laws as “good news”, explaining: “These reforms should be a real step forward in introducing better rights for borrowers.”