Debt Advice

When you first approach us for debt advice, our advisers will assess your financial situation by completing a “Debt Assessment” and give you advice on any emergencies.  If we are able to help you, the adviser will refer you to an appointment with a specialist debt caseworker.

Our debt caseworkers will work with you to try to resolve your debt problem, whatever the cause of the amount that you owe.

At your debt appointment, we will complete a full assessment of your financial situation using the information from the Debt Assessment, and by asking you some further questions.  Once we have a better understanding we will take the time to explore the possible debt options and solutions, and where possible, we will also look at your benefit entitlement and provide you with practical tips and support to help you to manage your budget.

We will then suggest an action plan, which will be tailored to you.

You will need to have the following documents at hand – our advice may be delayed or we may not be able to fully advise you without this information –

• Proof of income – bank statements, recent pay slips, benefit award notices, pension statements.
• Proof of expenditure – bank statements, rent statements, mortgage statements, council tax bills, water bills, utility bills.
• Details of any savings and/or assets – property, vehicles, valuables, pensions.
• Recent letters about your debts

To qualify for a DRO you will need to meet certain income & savings criteria. A DRO places your debt on hold for 12 months, and if your financial situation doesn’t improve by the end of the 12 months, your debt will be written off. 

Breathing Space is a government scheme which places a formal 60-day hold on creditors from demanding payment or taking enforcement action whilst you receive debt advice.

This will largely depend on the type of debt and what type of bailiff is recovering – some bailiffs have different powers than others, and the process to stop them will be different.  We would recommend that you seek urgent advice about the situation from our trained advisers.

Simply seeking advice will not impact your credit score but late payments and debt might.  As part of our process, we might ask you if we can obtain copies of your credit report so that we can advise you fully, and we will always explain which of your debt options will have an impact on your credit score before anything formal is put into place.