Although British Columbians have thus far seen success in flattening our curve in the fight against COVID-19, our battle against money woes may be far from over. With consumer savings already low and household debt levels at an historic high, for many individuals the pandemic\u2019s financial pinch may highlight just how close individuals have been to tipping into a financial crisis.<\/p>\n
Prior to the pandemic the total number of BC insolvencies filed by consumers had risen more than 10% in calendar year 2019, a massive increase over 2018\u2019s growth rate of 1.8%.<\/em><\/p>\n Debt experts at Sands & Associates, BC\u2019s largest firm of Licensed Insolvency Trustees focused exclusively on debt help for individuals, have already noted that in recent discussions with individuals facing debt problems, there are some consistent patterns of people trying to deal with immediate debt issues but making decisions that can often impact consumers negatively in the long-term.<\/p>\n BC Licensed Insolvency Trustee Blair Mantin joined CTV News to talk about \u201cpandemic financials\u201d including some common debt management pitfalls that consumers should generally avoid when dealing with debt, during the COVID-19 crisis or otherwise.<\/p>\n Watch the clip here and read more below:<\/p>\n