Weakness of sterling takes shine off living in the sun

Debt charity the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said this week it had seen a 33 per cent jump in the number of people who lived abroad who were contacting it for help because they were having problems repaying UK debts.

The charity said more than 500 people based overseas had contacted it so far this year, compared with 375 d uring the same period of 2009.

The increase was being driven by people living in eurozone countries, who have seen sharp falls in their incomes because of the weakness of the pound.

It said people in Europe who received their incomes in sterling and then had to convert it into euros, were having to use a higher proportion of their money to meet their day-to-day living costs, leaving them with less cash to repay their debts.

Pensioners living abroad have been hit particularly hard by the weakness of sterling, as not only do their incomes tend to be fixed, but they also typically spend more of it on daily living expenses.

The CCCS said 18 per cent of the people living abroad who contacted it for help were aged over 60, while 44 per cent were aged between 40 to 59, which the group thought reflected people who had retired early.

It added that the majority of calls it received were from people living in Spain, particularly the Costa del Sol.