New figures out from the leading high street banks show a gloomy picture of low profits and high numbers of bad debts.

Uswitch.com, the price comparison website, claims that close analysis of figures released by banking giant, Barclays, shows a shocking £2.795 billion in write-offs from bad debt from unpaid overdrafts, personal loans and credit cards.

“With the global credit crunch well and truly gripping the nation, an increased level of write offs by the Barclays Group in 2007 is no great surprise,” said Mike Naylor, personal finance expert at uSwitch.com.

He also claimed that the bad debt situation was worsening the credit crunch for everyone, as the costs were passed on to all consumers.

So even those who make their loan repayments on time and have never missed a mortgage payment are suffering with higher home loan rates as a result of lenders’ plummeting profits.

The advice for potential bad debtors is the same as ever: speak to your lender before allowing things to reach the point of no return. Most lenders will be happier to see you making reduced repayments rather than have the debt go bad.

Debt charities are also there to offer free advice to those struggling to meet loan repayments or make ends meet.