'7,700 loan repayments missed daily'

Almost a quarter of a million loan repayments are not being made every month as the rise in the base rate starts to take its toll, according to a personal finance website.

Four interest rate rises since last August have seen the base rate rise to 5.5 per cent and in the last six months three per cent of loan repayments have not been made compared with two per cent in 2006, claims research by the MoneyExpert website.

This adds up to a total 1,389,000 missed repayments over the past six months or over 7,716 every day. However, the pressure on earners will increase if potential rate rises later this year materialise, claimed Sean Gardner, the website’s chief executive.

He said: "The concern has to be that people are missing repayments on unsecured loans because they believe there’s not as much at stake as missing a mortgage repayment.

"Missing repayments is not a way to manage your finances. People doing that are risking damage to their credit rating and, potentially, court action. Burying your head in the sand is not the way to deal with financial problems."