Personal loan debt among StepChange clients up three percentage points year on year

Half of new clients who received debt advice from StepChange in September 2025 were in debt because of personal loans, the charity reported. That is up from 47% in September 2024, a rise of three percentage points¹.

The charity's monthly client data report, published in September 2025, covers the demographic and debt information of people who first received debt advice that month¹. The most commonly selected main reason for debt remained a "lack of control over finances" at 18%, followed by a "cost of living increase" at 17%. Both were also the most common reasons given in September 2024¹.

Household bill arrears also rose. Average arrears on household bills were £4,447 in September 2025, which the charity said was 10% higher than the £4,059 average reported in September 2024¹.

Among clients responsible for paying dual fuel bills, 46% reported arrears on that bill type in September 2025, two percentage points higher than the 44% recorded in August 2025. The share of clients with electricity arrears rose from 26% in August 2025 to 29% in September 2025¹.

Three in five clients, or 60%, were in employment as of September 2025, a fall of two percentage points from 62% in August 2025¹.

Why it matters for households

The figures describe people who have already approached a debt charity for advice, so they are not a measure of personal loan debt across the UK as a whole. They show the mix of debts among those seeking help, and how that mix has shifted between September 2024 and September 2025.

For households carrying personal loans alongside other commitments, the report indicates that loan repayments featured in a larger share of the debt problems brought to StepChange in September 2025 than a year earlier. Arrears on household bills, including gas and electricity, also moved up over the same period, with the average amount owed on bills 10% higher year on year.

The report does not give figures for the size of personal loan balances, the number of clients involved, or how much of the increase reflects more borrowing rather than a change in who seeks advice. Those details have not been reported.

What happens next

StepChange publishes this data as a monthly series, with each report covering clients who first received debt advice in the named month¹. The next edition, covering October 2025, had not been published at the time of this report.