The Office of Fair trading (OFT) has said that it will accept the promises of 3 West Yorkshire debt management companies that they will improve their standards.

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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is warning people with debt problems to be vigilant when approaching companies to help them with debts, as it says it has identified 27 websites run by 13 companies which it believes are deliberately misleading customers for commercial gain.

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Three leading debt advisory companies have been warned over their ‘misleading’ adverts, and told by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that they should not repeat the ads.

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Debt charities say that the number of people contacting them to discuss their debt problems is continuing to rise, with more people worried about severe difficulties such as mortgage arrears and repossession orders.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service reported a 33% rise in enquiries in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, while Citizens Advice also reported an increase.

It’s an accepted fact that personal debt has risen to almost unsustainable levels, and that the number of bankruptcies and IVAs (individual voluntary arrangements) is reaching record highs. Some commentators put this down simply to the financial ignorance of many people, or the irresponsible ‘buy now pay later’ culture they say has developed.

That’s perhaps a little harsh on the millions of people for whom debt is now an ordinary part of life. There are several contributing factors which have led to today’s debt problems.

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New figures from Alliance & Leicester show that UK consumer debt is falling in real terms for the first time in more than ten years. The report estimates that consumer borrowing, excluding residential mortgages, is growing at a rate of just 1.4% - less than inflation, resulting effectively in reduction of borrowing.

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The number of home repossession actions has risen by 22% compared to last year, according to new figures released by the government. The report also shows a rise of 15% between June and October compared to the previous quarter.

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Debt management company debts.co.uk has reported a huge rise in annual profits, up 62% to £2.1m off revenues of £6.1m.

The company says that it is currently handling around 140 IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) each month, and it expects the figure to rise to around 500 a month following an extensive advertising campaign.

Around a half of their customers take out IVAs, although the company also offers debt consolidation, debt management and bankruptcy advice services.