Many people fail to seek debt management advice because they are embarrassed to do so, it has been claimed.

This is a concerning state of affairs, stated Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Turn2us.org.uk, who suggested they may be worried about the perceptions people may form of them.

"If they have not been in financial difficulty before and they have worked all their lives, they find it hard to come to terms with the idea that they are in that situation," she revealed.

Ms Lasota believes there is "quite a negative portrayal" of people who are in situations such as this, despite the fact they are in obvious need of debt management assistance.

Almost one in five people are really worried about their financial situation and 38 per cent could not cope for more than one month without pay, a study by the website recently found.

By the end of the year, almost a third of people fear they are going to be financially worse off than they are already, while 40 per cent wouldn’t be able to cover bills if they didn’t receive their next pay cheque, it also found.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has revised its prediction for the number of repossession this year in a move which is encouraging for homeowners.

This is according to Beccy Boden Wilks, spokesperson at the Money Advice Trust, who revealed that the statistics will not be "as stark as people first thought".

"Obviously the debtor will lose their home and some repossessed properties have to be sold at public auction so they don’t go for as high a value as they would have done on the open market," she continued.

Repossession is a last resort and often presents a no-win situation, Ms Boden Wilks stressed, which is why many lenders are now looking for workable solutions to help people remain in their homes.

The CML reported on June 22nd that it had decided to revise its prediction for the number of repossessions in 2009 from 75,000 to 65,000.

Furthermore, the CML expects around 360,000 mortgages to be in arrears by the end of the year – equivalent to around 2.5 per cent of total mortgages.

Although the country may have faced the worst of its economic troubles, things are still far from over, it has been claimed.

Addressing the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference and Exhibition, global economist Ian Shepherdson said: "Things are still bad, but they are nowhere near as bad as they were.

"When you are contracting by two per cent in a quarter that is absolutely catastrophic."

There is still a lot of data yet to be revealed, Mr Shepherdson continued, which may show that the economy is starting to grow a bit.

He revealed that debt levels in the personal sector stand at about 180 per cent of income after tax, which may restrict the levels of growth previously seen in the economy.

Credit Action reported earlier this month that total UK personal debt stood at £1,459 billion in April and total secured lending on properties at the end of the month stood at £1,227 billion.

Total consumer credit lending to individuals was £232 billion and average household debt in the UK was £9,280 excluding mortgages.

The latest unemployment statistics paint a "pretty bad" picture for the UK’s labour market, it has been said.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, revealed that the situation may not be as bad as expected, although unemployment is still on the rise.

"At the moment we are at the point in time where things have started to get less bad and if we withdraw the stimulus too early we would relapse again," he stated.

There has ultimately been a relentless rise in the number of unemployed people, added Mr Kern, which is consistent with the view that although the overall rate might be moderating, there are still no signs of recovery.

According to the latest unemployment statistics published by the Office for National Statistics earlier this week, the number of unemployed people has risen to 2.26 million.

The number of unemployed people increased by 232,000 over the quarter and by 605,000 over the year, it also found.

There was also an increase in the claimant count, which stood at 1.54 million at the end of May, marking an increase of 39,300 on the previous month.

The number of repossessions in the UK is unlikely to reach levels seen in the 1990s, although they may reach their highest in a couple of years’ time, it has been predicted.

Ian Shepherdson, a global economist, said the number of repossessions has come down in recent months, although this might be down to the fall in interest rates.

"Now that the rates are stable and they aren’t going anywhere for a while, the big driver is likely to be the massive rise in unemployment," he suggested.

Mr Shepherdson predicted a "big repossession wave", which is unlikely to subsidise in the near future.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported in May that there were 12,800 repossessions by mortgage lenders in the first quarter of this year.

In the fourth quarter of 2008 there were 10,400 repossessions and 8,500 in the first three months of the same year.

However, the CML expects that its initial prediction of 75,000 repossessions over the course of this year may have been too high and expects to revise the figure.

Fewer people are putting money into savings accounts due to their fears over the wider economic climate, a survey has shown.

The Nationwide Savings Index is said to be at its lowest since it began in June next year, as many people save their cash on a regular basis.

"Rising unemployment and falling income growth clearly make it difficult to save, while the low level of interest rates may have increased the incentive to prioritise debt reduction over deposit accumulation," commented Andy Hutchinson, head of savings at Nationwide.

He emphasised the need for people to rebuild their financial position, which should include looking to debt management plans to help clear existing problems.

The index found that 26 per cent of consumers save nothing at all, while 46 per cent are putting money away on a regular basis.

In May, the Nationwide Savings Index showed some signs of improvement, going up two points on the previous month.

It found that 56 per cent of people thought saving was important, with 16 per cent thinking it was the right time to save.

There is still a large gap between the rate of inflation faced by young and old, it has been suggested.

According to the Alliance Trust, the elderly are affected by inflation rates 71 per cent higher than those of under-30s.

"The benefits of falling prices continue to come through more slowly for the elderly, who spend a larger share of their budgets on the basic goods and services; where price falls have been more limited," said Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre.

She revealed that low interest rates are also an influencing factor as the elderly often rely on the income they receive from their savings.

The headline rate of inflation may be starting to fall, the Alliance Trust pointed out, although basic goods inflation remains high and has the greatest impact on older generations.

Last month’s Financial Reality Index from the Alliance Trust said that there were glimmers of hope to be seen for consumer finances as it was at its highest level since the second quarter of 2008.

It is crucial for people to save for their retirement to ensure they have something to live off in later life, it has been said.

Laith Khalaf, pensions analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, believes that relying on the state pension alone is unlikely to give people a decent quality of life.

"Bearing in mind you reach retirement age at 65; if you are an average male you can expect to live another 25 years after that," he stressed.

He dubbed this as a "long time to be miserable", adding that it is "vitally important" for people to put money away.

Another option is that people work longer, Mr Khalaf claimed, although this might not be a particularly practical option.

A recent study from Lincoln Financial Group has revealed that 12 million UK adults are still not making pension contributions from their salary to fund retirement.

Furthermore, 17 per cent of UK adults who are not saving into a pension say they are too concerned over the economic downturn and subsequent fragility of the stock market.

As many as 12 million UK adults are unable to make contributions to their pensions, new research has shown.

Lincoln Financial Group said the payments are being avoided for a number of reasons, including paying for other day to day expenses.

"Clearly people’s finances are stretched at the moment. Unfortunately, this can lead some people to push pension contributions to the bottom of the priority list," commented Simon O’Connor, head of products and marketing at Lincoln Financial Group.

He added that increased life expectancy means people have to plan better for their financial futures, especially as figures from the Office for National Statistics show it is at the highest on record.

It found that females still live longer than males, although the gap is beginning to close.

Of those questioned by Lincoln Financial Group, 23 per cent said they do not pay into their pension due to the burden of existing loans and debts, which may be a reason to enlist the help of a debt management company.

The economic downturn, on the other hand, was found to be dissuading 17 per cent of UK adults from contributing money to their pensions.

Those who take out a debt management plan are launching a so-called plan of attack on their financial difficulties, it has been suggested.

It will involve putting unnecessary spending to a halt, reports the Examiner, which may also include taking steps to pay off existing debts.

Enlisting the help of a debt management firm is one way of tackling debt head on, it stated, as they will help look at the problems in the same way the individual would.

In some situations the company will help establish a budget alongside lower interest rates and minimum payments, which saves people the hassle of doing the work themselves.

Statistics released by Credit Action on May 27th said that 323 people would be declared insolvent or bankrupt on that day.

This is estimated to increase to 435 people a day throughout 2009 or one person becoming bankrupt or entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement every 3.3 minutes.

It also said 2,262 Consumer County Court Judgements were issued every day last year and 143 properties were repossessed every day during the last months to end December 2008.