Latest figures show that the average person owes at least £1,062 on credit cards, £1,561 in personal loans and £760 in overdrafts. That adds up to £3,383 on top of their mortgage.

Forum Response: National Savings and Investments

John Prout, sales director of National Savings and Investments, told ePolitix.com: "There is a clear responsibility on the financial services industry to concentrate more on encouraging people to save money, not just to encourage people to take out credit.

"Both issues go hand in hand but it is clear that one barrier to individuals saving regularly is access to a simple, secure and trusted means of saving."

Forum Response: National Consumer Council

Ed Mayo, chief executive of the National Consumer Council, told ePolitix.com: "Relying on credit for essentials means there is no leeway if you lose your job, fall sick or succumb to some other life change. The problem is that offers of instant loans and easily available credit are everywhere. Lenders need to be more responsible.

"Our research shows that one in five adults are often driven to borrow at extortionate rates from 25 per cent to a staggering 360 per cent, from non-mainstream lenders. Families with young children tend to have the largest debts, with many having two or three loans. For these consumers the loans are not for luxuries, but for essential items such as children's shoes and clothing.

"KPMG's research confirms the head-in-the sand attitude of many consumers to the intricacies of credit deals. A third of people surveyed by the NCC say they find agreements so complicated that they don't read them.

"Almost half pay more attention to what they are buying than they do to the terms of credit, with 47 per cent saying the product is more important than the credit deal. And two out of three people want finance companies to better explain 'fees and charges'. So there is certainly an urgent need for a bigger role for financial education in schools and colleges.

"But government should do more to help those on low incomes avoid the debt trap of high cost loans by encouraging alternative, cheaper, community-based sources of credit. And lenders must be more up front in their adverts and brochures about the true costs of credit, and terms and conditions.

"My advice to consumers is: Think carefully before signing up to new credit deals. If you live like there is no tomorrow, the hangover is coming."

Forum Response: Consumers' Association

Laurence Baxter, senior policy adviser at Consumers' Association said: "Consumers' Association is extremely concerned about the levels of indebtedness in the UK. The country is also storing up even greater trouble with the burgeoning mortgage endowment shortfalls - latest research suggests that the endowment timebomb will be even more damaging than first feared.

"Pensions and debt are the twin financial crises facing the UK. Levels of debt are undermining consumers' ability to invest enough to provide a decent income in retirement. Government and financial regulators must realise that financial education, while a worthwile long-term objective, is simply not enough to address these immediate crises. The need for a National Financial Advice Network along the lines proposed by Consumers' Association is more pressing than ever if we are to provide consumers with access to impartial financial advice to sort out their financial welfare.

"Given the increasing levels of indebtedness in this country combined with the pensions issues we're currently seeing, it's very possible that in 15 to 20 years time, we shall see an underclass of retired people, impoverished because they are racked with debt and have limited pensions savings. If that's not a government problem, I don't know what is."