Average debt for UK families over £10,000

According to research by Aviva, the average UK family is heading into Christmas with £10,603.75 of debt, which doesn't include their mortgage, as reported by dailymail.co.uk.

Unsecured debts aren't secured against property and include things like credit cards, personal overdrafts, Hire Purchase agreements and personal loans.

The following is a breakdown of the average unsecured debts that British families have:

• Credit Card £2,203
• Personal Loan £1,849
• Hire Purchase £1,364
• Overdraft £1,098
• Loans from Family / Friends £1,418
• Doorstep Lenders £645
• Storecards £782
• Other £1,244
• Total: £10,603

Londoners have the highest levels of unsecured debt, averaging at £23,608.54 - largely due to the significantly higher cost of living in the capital. However, Welsh people appear to be particularly 'prudent', as their average household unsecured debt worked out at £3,476.45, according to Aviva.

According to figures from the Bank of England, the UK population still owed £57 billion on credit cards in September this year. Our total outstanding secured debt was £1.24 trillion.

A spokesperson for debt management company Gregory Pennington commented: "It's not the size of a debt that's the most important factor - what really counts is whether you can comfortably afford the repayments. Anyone struggling to make their debt repayments should speak to a debt expert about their situation."