With retailers preparing to reveal who won Christmas, the Money Advice Trust (MAT) has taken the opportunity of a quiet-ish corporate news day to highlighted the plight of the losers.

No, I don’t mean the chains which undershot analysts’ expectations and are now furiously discounting in an attempt to offload their excess stock. I mean the shoppers who, caught up in the pre Christmas frenzy, with all its special offers and Black Friday deals, over spent. The people for whom the new year will be anything but happy as they try to work out how to pay for everything they bought.

According to the MAT some 5.5m Britons are likely to fall behind with their finances this new year. Only a third have a budget, and perilously few have anything resembling a plan to repay debts that doesn’t involve more debt.

The charity is expecting its busiest January in years. During December the National Debtline and its sister service, Business Debtline, took an average of 715 calls a day. More than 40,000 people were helped online making it the busiest Christmas in four years.

The MAT is advising people to set a budget now, to open all their bank statements on the day they arrive, and to seek free advice quickly if things look dicey. All eminently sensible. But the fact is, there are an awful lot of people who will choose not to heed it.

They will instead put dealing with their situations off, and then put it off again. Maybe that scratch card will pay off in the meantime. Perhaps Auntie Nellie will have left more than anyone could have dreamed in her will. Perhaps an unexpected heirloom will be found in the attic. Putting things off in the hope that something turns up is easier than facing up to a harsh reality and you can't really blame people for doing so. It's human nature.

The British consumer has proved remarkably resilient in recent months, doing much to sustain the British economy through a difficult period. A lot of that resilience, however, has been fuelled by debt and debt has to be repaid.

About the best that the MAT, and other charities dealing with people struggling to do that, can do is to keep saying “call us” and “call us soon” because for most people that scratch card won’t come good.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

There is also, however, a role that regulators can play. The rules covering how lenders treat distressed borrowers have been tightened in recent years. Some of the more sensible lenders have also recognised that calling in the heavy mob isn’t generally the best way of getting their money back. Working with borrowers on payment plans can pay dividends to all concerned.

Now would be as good a time as any to review the current framework and assess whether it is fit for purpose.