More senior citizens are getting into ‘inkassogjeld – debt collection’ debt

Elderly people in Norway care for the elderlyElderly. Photo: pixabay.com

Payment penalties among the elderly are growing at a faster rate than average.

The increase was 13% among retired people in just two years.

Altogether, more than 13,000 people over 66 years of age have received debt collection debt penalties, which involves collection cases that have not been paid even after several reminders, reported Dagbladet newspaper.

The figures come from the debt collection company Lindorff. Among those between the ages of 71 and 80 years, there has been an increase of 26% over the past two years, while the increase for the population as a whole is 5.8%.

‘What worries us is that over a period of time, we have seen an increasingly negative development for pensioners when compared to other groups. It suggests a certain change in their spending patterns’, said the administrative director, Anette Willumsen, of Lindorff.

Economic expert and program leader of ‘Luksusfellen’ (Luxury Trap), Hallgeir Kvadsheim, says the figures are surprisingly high.

‘It is more difficult for senior citizens and retirees to escape from financial problems than it is for younger people, since they have fewer prospects for gaining higher incomes. On the other hand, they often sit on property that is already paid off’, he said.

Kvadsheim said it is tough for many people to go from a full income in the workplace, to a reduced income in retirement. He was supported in that view by consumer economist, Elin Reitan of Nordea.

‘It can be difficult to service their debt when their income falls by 30 to 40%’, she said.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today