THE NUMBER of people seeking advice on their personal finance increased significantly last year, according to new figures released yesterday.
The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), a free, independent service for people experiencing financial difficulties, said that it saw 16,000 new clients in 2008.
An additional 2,400 sought information about budgeting and money management from the organisation's local services. The Mabs National Helpline received almost 11,000 calls.
The latest figures show that the total amount owed by new clients to creditors last year, based on the debt they had when first contacting Mabs, amounted to €205 million. Over 64 per cent of this sum was owed to banks and other financial institutions while 16 per cent was owed to credit unions.
The average debt owed by new clients when they first came to Mabs was in the region of €12,400 per person.
According to the data, 53 per cent of new clients were aged 26 to 40 with a further third aged between 41 and 65. Almost two-thirds of new clients were female.
The Mabs helpline number is 1890-283438.
