The high energy prices put many people in Germany in financial distress. Debt counseling services are registering an increase in people seeking help, including from the middle class.
Because of the high energy prices, consumers in Germany are increasingly looking for help from professional debt counseling services.
“We are getting more people into counseling who were not with us before,” said Eva Müffelmann, head of the Federal Working Group on Debt Counseling, the German Press Agency on the sidelines of a conference in Freiburg. The middle class of society is now also affected.
Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) said via video that increased energy and living costs are particularly affecting people with low incomes. “The need for advice has probably never been greater so that people don’t get into over-indebtedness or get out of debt again,” she said, according to her ministry.
Around six million people in Germany are overindebted
Lemke pointed to the gas and electricity price brakes that were introduced in March and are financed from a special fund of up to 200 billion euros from the federal government. According to Lemke, around six million people in Germany are over-indebted. One speaks of over-indebtedness when income and assets are no longer sufficient to pay off liabilities, even with a reduced standard of living.
The debt counseling warned of an increase in personal bankruptcies. According to the credit agency Crif, there were a good 96,300 cases of private insolvency last year. That was almost 12 percent less than in 2021.
According to its own information, the federal working group for debt counseling represents a nationwide network of around 1,200 counseling centers. According to managing director Ines Moers, around 600,000 people seek advice each year.
Link to the conference
Source: Stern
