Consumer credit: how to avoid the spiral of over-indebtedness?

Noa Moussa 06:00, June 10, 2022

Fuel, energy, food... Inflation has pushed many French people to turn to consumer credit to, among other things, pay their bills.

But this method is very risky because it can quickly tip the borrower into over-indebtedness, i.e. when it has become impossible to pay his fixed charges and credits." The fear we have is that these credits have been taken in connection with the rise in costs, in particular energy, and therefore to pay debts, to pay bills", worries Pauline Dujardin, jurist of the Crésus Federation.

"If people take credit to pay their debts, maybe there is a more structural problem of financial difficulties. And people lock themselves into a spiral of over-indebtedness." 

Alternatives to consumer credit 

 To avoid having recourse to consumer credit, it is possible to turn to specialized associations.

"It serves at least to make a point, to see the budget, to see what solutions are available to people", explains Pauline Dujardin at the microphone of Europe 1. "Is it going to be budgetary support and perhaps be to reduce such and such a charge, will it be rather to ask the judge for a suspension of a credit? And the association will be able to redirect towards the right solution. 

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It is also possible to negotiate with your creditor to spread out your repayments, the aim being to avoid falling into a spiral of over-indebtedness as much as possible.