Debt Management

Summary: The latest statistics state that 8.2 million British adults are now in serious debt according to Call credit. 60% of UK consumers do not know how much they owe out to the finance companies research by call credit has shown. People over 60 are a large proportion of those with debt problems and this age group have accelerated faster than any other according to Consumer Credit Counseling services and they predict that by the end of 2007 they will be helping more people over 60 t...

The latest statistics state that 8.2 million British adults are now in serious debt according to Call credit. 60% of UK consumers do not know how much they owe out to the finance companies research by call credit has shown. People over 60 are a large proportion of those with debt problems and this age group have accelerated faster than any other according to Consumer Credit Counseling services and they predict that by the end of 2007 they will be helping more people over 60 than under 25 years old. This is another article that back up the research by http://unbiased.co.uk that UK consumers are in denial about the level of debt that they have outstanding. Two million British consumers (6%) cannot give an accurate answer to how much debt they are in. There is a few ways you can get a bit more control over you debts. First you need to make a list of which companies and people you owe money too, that includes all secured loans, unsecured loans, credit cards and outstanding debt including your mortgage. Then you need to place the debt into two categories priority debts and non priority debts. Place all mortgage, secured and all debts which you need to pay by law or as a priority such as gas electric and water payments, council tax arrears court fines, income tax or Vat into the priority debts. And credit cards, overdraft, loans, hire purchase into non priority debt. You can't be sent to prison for non payment of these debt but you still need to contact the individual creditors and explain why and make a reduce offer of payment. The next step is to work out your budget this is income and expenditure, income includes wages or salary from you or your partner any benefits and any other income you have coming into the property. The expenditures are your out going this is housekeeping food, toiletries and other living expenses. You priority debts such as your Mortgage and Secured Loans, building insurance, council tax water gas electric charges. Then when you have added up the two different figures you will see what you have left for your non priority debt such as the credit cards, unsecured loans, hire purchase and all the others mention above. Once you have these figure you will be able to go to your creditors with offers of payments for the outstanding debt. Another option if you don't wish to do this yourself is to get a debt management company to do it for you; there are advantages and disadvantages to doing this. The main advantages are you only have to deal with one monthly payment to debt Management Company and they divide the payments out to the creditors and deal with them direct so you don't have to contact them. The disadvantages are that most Debt Management companies charge upfront fees and also charge a monthly administration fee both which leaves you with less money than doing it yourself. Whether you use a Debt management company or not one thing is clear and that is Debt is here to stay in the UK at the moment. It is recommended that before thinking about sorting out your debt you should get advise from an experienced advisor or speak to the Citizens Advise Bureau.