Independent financial adviser, Alan Steele commented, “Debt has always been a problem for a minority of people. One of current problems is willingness of bank managers to hand out loans and credit cards, which means this minority has increased, but majority are coping with their debt.”

Free information on credit cards including costs, from comparison websites like Moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk ) or Moneyfacts ( http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/)can help consumers check for lowest rates and best deals on their loan and credit requirements, thereby reducing risks of incurring high interest charges due to mis-selling by providers.

The introduction of tougher codes of practice imposing stricter standards on way products are sold, and use of financial information from qualified financial advisers will also help to protect consumers against possible debt induced problems.

In an interview with BBC, debt charity, National Debtline (http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/), stated, "We are not in an early 1990s scenario yet, but large numbers of people are living up to and beyond their incomes."

Organisations like National Debtline, Citizens Advice, CCCS (http://www.cas.org.uk/) and Business Debtline (http://www.bdl.org.uk/) are available to public to provide information, in unfortunate event of debt escalating out of control; however it is much better to prevent situation from getting to that level in first place.

For example, if you are self-employed or work on short-term contracts, there's a good chance your ability to repay will vary. With a flexible mortgage you can overpay when cash comes in (and save money on interest payments on reduced amount) and reduce your payments or re-borrow some cash when you have bills to pay or when you are in-between jobs.

Flexible mortgages may also suit you if you're about to have children. For example, if one of you is going to take a career break to bring up children, a flexible mortgage can be used to reduce financial strain over this period of lower income and higher expenditure.

Flexible Mortgages are sometimes not available to some customers. For example, those with an adverse payment history, those on DSS benefits, those wishing to acquire property which is not their main residence.

Flexible mortgages may not be for everyone. It all depends on how you use features of a flexible loan. Nothing comes free, and flexibility costs – and while flexible rates have come down in last few years, they still can't compete with cheapest discounts being offered on standard mortgages. This is because flexible loans were designed for longer term, so to get best use out of them you need to hold them for longer term and use all features they offer.

The most common requirement people have with a flexible mortgage is simply ability to make penalty free overpayments. If this is only flexible feature you want, a penalty-free mortgage will be just as suitable as a flexible mortgage and so you should consider both options.

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