Debt Action Plan
Follow a five point action plan:
- How much do you owe?
List your debts. Work out when payments fall. Identify the priority debts. - How much do you earn?
Work out how much money you have coming in. Are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled to? Are you paying too much tax? - What do you spend?
List your essential and less essential spending. Compare it with your incomings. What do you have left over to offer to creditors? - Nothing left over?
Are there any areas in which you can cut down your spending? Is there any way in which you could earn extra money? - Talk to your creditors.
Send them a financial statement showing your income and outgoings. Explain your offer to pay off your debt.
Sooner faced - easier to solve...
The sooner you face any debt problem, the easier it will be to solve it. Don't ignore it and hope it will go away. If you do, you could end up in court, lose the goods you've bought or find it difficult to get credit in future. You might even lose your home. Even if you aren't up to your neck in debt, it's suprising how quickly it can build up and how long it takes to pay back.
Work out exactly how much you owe, who you owe it to and what you can pay back. This will help sort things out in your mind, and help your creditors to see where you stand. Contact the creditor(s) as soon as possible to explain the problem and try to come to some agreement about repayments. Your debt won't be written off but you might be able to pay it back in smaller payments over a longer period of time. This will probably cost you more in interest payments in the long term but may be more manageable now.
IVA's
The IVA Guide
Money Advice Direct has put together an IVA Guide based on the enquiries and questions that we receive at our helpline offices.
In the guide we cover such subjects as IVA Approval, early settlment of your IVA, missed IVA payments, IVA failure, additional debt claims and much more.
[click here for IVA Guide]
What is an IVA?
The IVA is an extremely powerful tool enabling you to clear your debt and return to a clean financial bill of health. Visit Money Advice Direct's Guide to Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs).
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DANGER
Due to the tremendous demand for debt consolidation services the United Kingdom is now overloaded with debt management companies that contain misleading information. [more...]