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The way the economy has been of late has cause d a far higher rate than normal to have to face problems with debt. The Citizens Advice Bureau has seen evidence of this with hoards of debt-ridden individuals come to them for help.
The CAB is great for face-to-face advice. They now have over 3,000 centres across the UK aided by an army of volunteers, many of them specialising in the field of debt. If you do go to them for help, they will ask you to compile a list of your creditors as well as your incomings and outgoings. Then you can make an appointment with an advisor. They will go through the information you have provided as well as any other data you give them right there and then and then advise you as best they can including assessing whether it’s possible that your income may be raised.
You may be sure that you have provided everything necessary but there may be some information that you are lacking such as benefits you didn’t realise you were entitled to or an overpayment of tax you were not aware of. You will also need to evaluate your outgoings and judge whether or not there is anywhere where you and save where you’re currently not. Then you will look at which debts need to be made a priority i.e. those related to your mandatory needs such as rent or mortgage, council tax and bills. Leave loans such as personal loans and credit cards at the bottom. They will draft letters for you to send to your creditors requesting that your debts be put on hold whilst you’re arranging a repayment plan.
You will put your heads together with your advisor, deciding upon a figure to be classed as your disposable income. From there and taking into account your basic living needs, you can conclude how much you can afford to pay the rest of your creditors.
An alternative to the CAB is the Consumer Credit Counselling Service who although not as common an option as the CAB also received significant requests for debt advice.
Find sympathetic, confidential and up to date debt advice online.