Where do you go for advice with your debts? A great many people are running into problems with debt in the current financial climate. Citizen’s Advice has seen a marked increase in people asking for their help in connection with managing their mortgage repayments and other credit problems.
Another source of free advice when it comes to debt, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service or CCCS is reporting around 1,500 phone calls every day, with National Debtline saying their calls are up at least a third.
If you have debts problems, you’re not alone. Read on to find out just how much help you can get.
For face to face contact, The Citizen’s Advice has a wide number, well over 3,000, of Citizens Advice Bureaus spread all around the country. Their staff work on a voluntary basis, with many of the bureau’s having people who specialize in debt.
If you approach them for help, what they will do, initially, is to ask you to make out a list of who you owe money to, what income you have and how much money you need to cover home costs. Armed with this information, you will then have an appointment with an adviser. They will go through everything with you and check whether there is any way that your income can be raised.
Although you may think you’ve covered everything, it may be that there are benefits you’re not receiving or you could have been given the wrong tax code and are paying too much tax.
You will then look together at the figures for outgoings and see if there can be any savings made. They will explain how to prioritize your debts. The most important ones will be those concerned with keeping a roof over your families head, such as mortgage repayments or rent, together with your council tax and payments for heat, light and power. Things like credit cards and loans which are not secured on your home come last on the list.
Your adviser will arrange for you to receive letters for you to send to the people you owe money to, which will ask that they hold everything whilst a repayment plan can be arranged.
Together with your adviser, you will estimate your disposable income and come up with a repayment plan to be negotiated with the firms on your priority list - Mortgage Company or landlord, local authority and utility companies.
Money left over after these essential expenses and the costs of feeding your family will then be offered to the non-priority group. This should be in proportion to the debt. The CAB will always work with you to ask for the associated interest and charges to be frozen, but there are varying degrees of success with this. If the courts get involved, they will normally acknowledge a fair offer as a positive move.
If there is any threat of repossession or court proceedings to recover debt, the CAB will help with that too.
Many people like the personal service and having someone to go through everything with them and sit in on talks with creditors. With the current credit crisis, their advisers are extremely busy and there could be a lengthy wait for an appointment.
Contact details: Go to The Citizens Advice web site or look under Citizens Advice Bureau in the phone book for your nearest branch.
The CCCS offer, in the main, a phone and on-line service. It’s also possible to visit one of their ten offices, by appointment, although these are mainly in the North. Contact details: 0800 138 1111
National Debtline are a telephone based service. They will send out budget sheets and sample letters but then talk you through the various processes, but they don’t speak to your creditors for you.
Contact details: 0808 808 4000
Are your debts becoming a nightmare! If so you need help. There are lots of alternatives to Bankruptcy . The web site Brokers Online can help you find the right Debt Management plan.