Rising number of people experience severe adverse credit

Pepper Money’s YouGov-conducted survey recorded a nationally representative sample of 4,192 adult respondents. It asked participants whether they had adverse credit – defined as missed credit payments or loans and/or possessing a county court judgment (CCJ) or a debt management plan (DMP).

The number of people who had missed credit or loan payments was 492, an increase from 26% in spring 2021 to 33% last autumn, when the latest wave of research occurred.

During the same period, the number of people with both adverse credit and a CCJ has risen from 22% to 27%.

The amount of people with adverse credit who have entered a DMP has ascended from 27% to 33%.

Those with adverse credit and who have missed a payment on a mortgage or secured loan has gone from 18% to 23%.

However, the size of the population with recent adverse credit (over the last three years) has not changed since spring 2021, at 12%.

Almost a third (32%) of respondents reported that their missed payments were a product of difficulty in budgetary management.

Paul Adams, sales director at Pepper Money, said: “We have seen an increase in the number of people reporting more severe forms of adverse credit such as CCJs and missed payments on secured and unsecured loans.

“We hope that shining a light on these issues with the latest Pepper Money Adverse Credit Study will help break down the stigma of missed payments, create a more open discussion about credit problems and ultimately have a positive influence on the mental health and lives of many customers with adverse credit.”