Sorting out your debts

If you have debts and are having problems managing your payments, it is important not to ignore the situation.  This is likely to lead to your total debt increasing, as costs, interest and other charges may be applied, especially if your creditor takes legal action against you to recover the debt. 

If you feel that you cannot cope, please review the information below and contact us if necessary.  We can help you to categorise and deal with your debts. These may be priority debts (arrears of rent, mortgage/secured loan, council tax, utilities, TV licence, Magistrate Court fines); or secondary debts – unsecured loans, credit/store cards, catalogues. If you have priority creditors and legal action is threatened we advise that you contact us immediately for advice. 

If you have no priority creditors but are struggling to maintain contractual repayments to your secondary creditors or if you have already defaulted on payments, you may wish to consider negotiating affordable repayment offers directly with your creditors. There are tools available to assist you in this process:

• Our self-help pack is available here.  This contains tips on how to compile an accurate budget sheet reflecting household income and expenditure, ensuring that essential expenses (housing costs, council tax and utilities) are met. The pack also contains information about how to calculate offers to secondary creditors and what to include in letters to support your offer(s) of payment.
• The CAB Adviceguide web site has a great section on Money Management where you can find detailed advice.

If you are not able to resolve your situation directly, or for more complex or serious situations, we offer a money advice service to discuss the options available to you and to help you manage your debts.

Money Advice Process
We can help prepare a financial statement for you and may negotiate with creditors on your behalf. Please note this is not a debt management plan and we will not make actual payments to your creditors.

We will check your entitlement to any welfare benefits and will issue you with an income and expenditure pack to complete and return with proof of your household income and statements from all creditors showing a current balance and contact address.   A budget sheet will be drawn up to ensure that you are able to pay all necessary essential household costs and to confirm how much income you have available to offer to your creditors.

In general, your initial contact with us will be with a generalist adviser or assessor, who will review your situation and will explain the options open to you.  If necessary, an appointment may be made with one of our money advice specialists, once we have received all of the relevant paperwork from you.

Insolvency
If you are insolvent (that is you are unable to pay back your debts) we can provide advice about options that may be appropriate for you to consider. You may wish to petition for your own bankruptcy and should seek advice to discuss the costs and implications of this course of action.

Debt Relief Orders may be an appropriate option if you meet certain criteria.  Your debts must be below £15,000, your gross assets must not exceed £300 and your surplus income each month should be £50 or less. The application is made at the bureau via an approved intermediary and you will need to attend appointments with one of our money advice specialists before the application can be made.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss applying for bankruptcy or a debt relief order.

Esher & District Area
 

Walton Weybridge & Hersham Area