£1,800 a year more required to repay credit card debt by 2015

Households will need an additional £1,800 per year just to pay the interest on their credit card debts by 2015, if rates increase as forecast, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has predicted.

With interest rates expected to increase by between two and three percentage points over the next four years, the average credit card-using household will have to spend a growing proportion of their disposable income on repaying their debt, PWC says.

The report comes amidst increasing speculation over when the Bank of England could increase its base rate. Some economists think the Bank may have to raise the rate in the first half of this year - earlier than previously expected. A recent poll carried out by thisismoney.co.uk says later this year is the general consensus, but there may be a `token` rise earlier than this.

An expert at debt management company Gregory Pennington said: "There will always be a great deal of speculation about interest rates, but the truth is nobody really knows what will happen - and this alone should be reason enough for people to assess their finances and make sure they minimise their risk of future problems.

"Rate rises will affect not only credit cards, but more significantly (for many people) mortgages, and both of these could have a big impact on the disposable incomes of households across the UK.

"If you`re concerned about your ability to cope with future rate rises, our advice is to try to reduce the amount of debt you have. For some people this may not be possible, though, and we urge anyone in that situation to get expert help."