Ben says he’s reached an agreement to pause the interest on most of it, but he is still incurring charges on around £2,000 of credit card debt and is worried about his repayments going up.
“With all that’s going on, rising interest rates is another cost to deal with,” he tells the BBC.
As well as overall debt repayments of around £300 a month, he and his wife pay £760 on their mortgage. They have also struggled with higher food and energy bills.
Simon Trevethick is head of communications at StepChange, which has been helping Ben manage his debt. He says the debt charity has seen a 20% increase in people asking for support this year and warned of tougher times ahead.
“If higher borrowing costs feed through into household budgets over the coming months, we could see further pressure on people seeking support.”
