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Unpaid loan repayments are on the increase
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Interest rate hikes are hitting consumers to the extent that hard-pressed loan customers are missing over 7,700 repayments every day.
Research suggests that in the past six months alone almost 1.4 million personal loan repayments have gone unpaid, working out at 7,716 every day.
A survey conducted by price comparison website MoneyExpert.com found that 3% of loan customers have missed a repayment in the last half year.
It warns that with a further hike in the base rate expected next month, the squeeze on consumers' finances could get worse.
Sean Gardner, chief executive at MoneyExpert.com, said: "This is yet another warning of real financial distress and a sign that finances are being stretched to the limit by recent interest rate rises.
"The concern has to be that people are missing repayments on unsecured loans because there is not as much at stake as missing a mortgage repayment.
"Missing repayments is not a way to manage your finances. People doing that are risking damage to their credit rating and potential court action."
More than 2,000 UK adults were interviewed as part of the research.
Copyright - Press Association 2007
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