That was how mum-of-four Dawn Newbury broke the news to her daughters that she had fallen behind with the mortgage payments and bailiffs were coming to repossess their home.

Now, the 45-year-old, from Pentwyn, Cardiff, who once had bailiffs drilling through her back door to claim repossession, wants everyone to learn from her story and seek help with mortgage problems before it’s too late.

05.02.08

Four out of five lenders believe home repossessions will rise this year, according to a new survey, as heavily indebted first-time buyers and buy-to-let investors struggle to meet higher costs. 'Financial Times'

Moore Blatch, a law firm that specialises in repossession proceedings, said it had seen a significant increase in activity over the past year, and that with house prices falling, most lenders expected this trend to continue.

The group asked a number of lenders, from high street banks to sub-prime specialists, for their predictions on bad debt. It found that 40% of lenders believed repossessions would rise between 10-15% this year, while 8% of lenders anticipated an even sharper rise.

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05.02.2008

Manchester has been named as the "debt capital" of Britain in a study that showed how many people were in severe financial difficulty.

Well over a quarter of the adults in Manchester, Glasgow, Nottingham, Knowsley and Kingston upon Hull show signs of high or very high "financial stress", said the credit checking agency Experian.

It is an assessment of those who are already in severe trouble - with a credit court judgment against their name - or are at severe risk of being unable to pay off their debts.

This may be because they have missed some payments, or because they have used up three quarters of their debt limit, or have four or more active credit card accounts open.

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