Last year in the UK, debt collection agencies and bailiffs chased 20 million cases of debt default.
Many of these firms are using aggressive, yet legal, collection methods, and now there are calls for a clamp-down on collectors.
A report out today suggests that parents are secretly saving to pay off debts run up by their children while at university.
Savings bank ING Direct, which published the report, says that many parents are keeping the savings a secret because they fear that if their offspring were aware of the safety net they would spend even more.
KPMG, one of the biggest accounting firms, is warning that more than 10 million people may default on credit repayments before the end of 2008.
Millions of people may have to come to terms that their take-home pay is not enough to service repayments on mortgages, personal loans and credit cards
Local councils appear to be taking a tough stance over council tax debt, and are petitioning for bankrupcies over debts of as little as £1200.
It is thought that authorities are getting tough over arrears in order to meet govenment-set performance targets.