Oakbrook research finds higher earners in middle age juggle the most credit repayments
11 November 2026 — For immediate release
Oakbrook, the UK lender behind the OakbrookOne debt consolidation loan, has published new research showing that the most complicated repayment profiles in its dataset belong not to people on low incomes, but to higher earners in middle age. People applying for credit in the UK aged 45 to 54 and earning £50,000 or more manage five or more separate credit repayments every month — the highest of any group measured.
The UK Debt Repayment Complexity Index 2026 is built from 4,299,599 anonymised credit records of people applying to borrow from an Oakbrook brand, with the data drawn from applicants to OakbrookOne, Oakbrook’s debt consolidation loan. It measures something UK debt statistics rarely capture: not how much people owe, but how many separate agreements they are keeping on top of each month.
Across the whole population measured, applicants make an average of 3.5 separate credit repayments a month across 3.8 active credit products, paying £292 a month or £3,502 a year towards those commitments and using 48% of the revolving credit available to them. Complexity follows a working life, rising from fewer than two repayments a month among 18 to 24 year olds to more than four between 45 and 54, before easing towards retirement.
The pattern inverts the usual assumption. A higher income supports wider access to credit, more applications are approved, and each approval adds another agreement to administer. Complexity accrues as a by-product of being creditworthy rather than as a sign of difficulty.
The distinction matters for how lenders and policymakers respond. A missed payment spread across five agreements on five different dates may be an administrative failure rather than an affordability one — and the two need different remedies. The Financial Conduct Authority has found that 23% of credit holders who received payment support in the two years to May 2024 could not find an option suited to their circumstances.
“More money doesn’t necessarily mean simpler finances,” said Claire Smith, Marketing Director at Oakbrook. “Higher earners in middle age have the most complex repayment profiles we measured, juggling five or more credit commitments every month. We’ve spent years talking about how much people owe. Perhaps we also need to start talking about how complicated we’ve made borrowing to manage.”
Rich Payne, Chief Operating Officer at Oakbrook, said: “Affordability only tells us part of the story. We also need to understand how many separate repayments people are managing across different accounts, amounts and dates. Measuring it gives us a clearer picture of what managing debt actually looks like day to day, which is why we think repayment complexity is worth tracking and why we’ve published the methodology alongside the findings.”
The 2026 edition is the first, setting a baseline of 100 against fixed component values. It reports a level rather than a trend. Oakbrook has published the full method, the component values and the known limitations alongside the findings so that others can test, criticise or replicate the approach.
Notes to editors
All figures describe UK credit-active applicants: people who applied to borrow from an Oakbrook brand and whose credit file was obtained during that application. This population is not nationally representative and no figure should be reported as a UK national average. The unit of observation is an application month, not a person.
The full report, methodology and downloadable data are available at https://oakbrookone.com/blog/uk-debt-repayment-complexity-in.... Please link to the report when citing these figures.
Suggested citation: Oakbrook (2026), The UK Debt Repayment Complexity Index 2026, first edition. Oakbrook, United Kingdom.
Anyone worried about debt can get free, impartial advice from StepChange, Citizens Advice, National Debtline or MoneyHelper. These services are independent of any lender.
About Oakbrook
Oakbrook is a UK consumer lender using data and technology to make borrowing fairer and simpler for people underserved by mainstream credit. OakbrookOne is Oakbrook’s debt consolidation loan, which settles existing credit commitments directly and replaces several monthly repayments with one. Oakbrook is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Media contact
Claire Smith, Marketing Director, Oakbrook
[email protected]
