Debt advice

[curlie467]

In a nutshell, we are knackered financially and wandered if anyone had ever used any of the free debt advice and wether any of you could recommend one?

[Andy OH]

You could try the Citizens Advice Bureau. There are many places that can help but as a start try the CAB, they will be able to help and guide you to the next solution. What route you take to consolidate/pay off the debts will depend on your level of debt.

Good luck.

[PurpleMoonlight]

Have a word with Consumer Credit Counselling Service, they are a charity and free to use.

You can get their details at www.cccs.co.uk

[flyingjase]

CAB is the first stop.

Having been a Bank Manager in my dim and distant, watch a lot of theses companies that offer amazing results - they take a fee so less of your income goes to the lenders (Baines and Ersnt was the big one back then)

[curlie467]

flyingjase said:

CAB is the first stop.

Having been a Bank Manager in my dim and distant, watch a lot of theses companies that offer amazing results - they take a fee so less of your income goes to the lenders (Baines and Ersnt was the big one back then)

This is what i have been wary of, CAB have helped me in the past with other matters so i will trundle down there and see what we can come up with.

[pacoryan]

CAB every time and keep up the dialogue with any one you owe to.

The magic pill brigade will arrange an IVA for you and it will look great for a few weeks and then be misery for six years.

[cailean]

Community Money Advice (CMA) is a good debt advice charity as well. CAB can be a bit "cold" and time pressured. Stay away from companies that offer to restructure your debt for a fee or consolidators, you will end up worse off. You need to meet a debt advisor and they should contact all your creditors, request interest to be stopped, arrange for all correspondence to go through them, prepare a financial statement for you and discuss it in detail with you, work out your offers of monthly repayments, discuss if you can increase your income and/or reduce expenditure. If you are fair and open with the creditors they normally agree reasonable repayment terms until things improve in your situation.

[thomasa666]

If had quite large debts in the past
My first call was the CAB, they put me onto CCCS (consumer credit counselling service)
Free charity setup to help as much as possible

Basically i had to default on about 6 accounts, they give you a template and you write to each
After a bit of paperwork CCCS take over and act as a third party.
Help you budget, what you can afford, get agreements with the creditors.
In the end you pay CCCS each month and they send the money to the creditors

Really helped me massivly - i was up to my neck!
After 6 years from your default they disappear off your credit report and thats it

Tom