IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Money and Mental Health response to ONS’s September inflation announcement

22nd October 2025 – Today (22nd October) the ONS has announced that the UK inflation rate has remained at 3.8% in September 2025.

Responding to the announcement, Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:

“With inflation remaining high, lots of families will struggle to put food on the table or heat their homes as we head into a long, cold winter – as even the most basic essentials become harder to afford.

“Rising prices could mean more people falling behind on bills and being exposed to punitive debt collection practices which compound the problems they’re facing. Our research shows that the aggressive way that banks, utilities providers and especially councils chase up missed payments leaves people feeling overwhelmed and unable to deal with their financial problem. In some cases it even contributes to people becoming suicidal.

“The government has limited powers to stop rising prices — but it can take action to make debt collection practices more supportive and less intimidating, which would make a huge difference in mitigating the harm that this rise in inflation could cause. This needs to be a key priority in the government’s upcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy.”

Money and Mental Health’s research shows that aggressive debt collection by banks, national and local government and utilities causes unnecessary distress for people in debt, and can even contribute to people becoming suicidal:

• Nearly half of people who are behind on consumer credit payments say they feel harassed (49%) or overwhelmed (48%) by the volume of contact they receive from their creditors. (This statistic is from Money and Mental Health’s report, Debts and despair, which was published in December 2023).
• People with severe mental illness who are behind on utility bills are nearly twice as likely to report having been disconnected, compared to those without mental health problems. (This statistic is from Money and Mental Health’s report, Connection lost, which was published in April 2025).
• Within six weeks of someone missing a single missed payment, councils are demanding up to 12 times more than the original debt, sending court summons, piling on unfair charges, and calling in the bailiffs. (This statistic is from Money and Mental Health’s report, In the public interest?, which was published in September 2024).
• Nearly half (46%) of people in problem debt also have a mental health problem, and nearly three quarters (73%) of people who are in arrears and contacted by a bailiff have a mental health problem. (This statistic is from Money and Mental Health’s report, Who’s in?, which was published in September 2025).

ENDS

For enquiries or to set up an interview with a Money and Mental Health spokesperson, please contact Alex Goodfellow, External Affairs Officer at Money and Mental Health, on 07754 446 272 / or [email protected]