In an effort to stop credit card debts spiralling out of control, the government has recommended guidelines including measures such as card holders doubling their monthly payments.

This week, consumer affairs minister Kevin Brennan is due to announce the results from his research into credit and store card practices, and it is anticipated that featured prominently in his findings will be the minimum monthly amount to be repayed.

Minimum repayments on store card and credit card debts have fallen over the years from around 5% of the outstanding balance to an average of between 2 and 3% of the outstanding debt. whilst seemingly small, this difference can quadruple the amount that is repaid, along with the length of time taken to clear the outstanding balance, by those who only pay the minimum amount.

The government doesn’t believe that enough is currently being done by lenders to prevent consumers developing debt problems, and intends to introduce new legislation to help the consumers currently struggling with finances.

Other areas subject to changes include the adverse order of repayments, which is currently applied many card issuers.

This affects people who have developed outstanding balances on their credit cards, as they are frequently hit with hundreds of pounds of extra interest costs due to lenders forcing them to pay off their cheapest debts first.

“Adverse order” is the way that lenders force consumers to pay off cheapest debts first, thus ensuring more expensive ones last longer and earn them more interest revenues.

According to figures from Nationwide building society, this practice means that consumers are overpaying an estimated £500m each year.

A spokesperson for Nationwide said: “This is an issue that affects people in different ways but it has the biggest impact on the most vulnerable.

“It would not be good financial advice to tell someone who was trying to manage their unsecured debts to repay their cheapest debt first ñ but this is what most credit card providers do.”

Ivan Cooper, Chairman at debt advice specialists Chiltern, said: “These steps proposed by the government should help prevent people developing debt problems in future, but more needs to be done to help those who already need help with outstanding balances.

“People need to understand that there is free debt advice available and that dealing with debt problems sooner usually results in a more positive outcome.”

Other measures proposed by the government include preventing firms from raising the interest rates on existing credit card debts and preventing them from raising someone’s available credit limit without first receiving their authority.