Equity release specialists Key Retirement recently published a press release with details of the results they compiled from customers applying for Equity Release. They found that on average, pensioners are dealing with over £25,000 of debt from mortgages, credit cards, and unsecured loans!

“The average pensioner with debt taking out an equity release plan on the value of their home has debts totalling £25,418…

And the average doesn’t tell the whole story – maximum credit card debts are as high as £90,000 with some pensioners clearing £250,000 unsecured loans and others struggling with £340,000 mortgages.

Key Retirement Solutions believes the credit crunch has driven pensioners to turn to credit cards to fund living costs when they’ve been unable to borrow in other ways and warns that the aftershock of the endowment mis-selling issue is another major factor.

Its analysis of more than 4,400 customers in 2010 shows one in three had debts run up from credit cards, loans or mortgages with many struggling with multiple debts.

Figures for the first quarter of 2011 show 31% of customers used some or all of the cash they raised from equity release to clear their debts compared with 23% for the last three months of 2010.”

Equity release can be one solution to clearing debts. Another possibility is pension release. If you’d like to find out if pension release could be a useful option for you, fill in the form at the top-right of this page, and get a free informal advice call.