DEBT COUNSELLING

noun Written debt counseling in the US (Business World) (People and Society) Professional advice and support provided for those who have fallen into debt and are unable to meet their financial commitments. The work of a debt counsellor. Etymology: Formed by compounding: counselling about debt. History and Usage: The term was first used in technical sources as long ago as the late sixties, but did not become at all common in general usage until the late seventies in the US and the eighties in the UK. The successive problems of the credit boom (leading to credit-card debt) and high interest rates (causing people to default on mortgage payments) have made it increasingly common since then. As debt counselors all over the state can attest: The woods around here are full of people who can't handle a single credit card without getting into deep, deep trouble. Los Angeles Times 30 Jan. 1986, section 5, p. 14 For homeowners forced into debt by rising interest rates, the Portsmouth Building Society has set up a free debt counselling phoneline...manned by staff trained in debt counselling. Daily Telegraph 10 Feb. 1990, p. 34