HeadlinesChristmas Debt Appeal full story... Fridgesavers Article full story... Up to 70% interest - credit card aimed at the poor full story... Debt TipsDebt Management Companies Click for Tip Clearing a balance Click for Tip Administration Order Click for Tip. Composition Order Click for Tip Bankruptcy Click for Tip Refused Offers Click for Tip Token Payments Click for Tip Debt Tips......... This is a simply tip ........ don't use a fee charging debt management company, they can't promise that you'll not get a bad credit history, end up in court or be charged additional interest and default charges. The fact is you'll end up paying for a service that's provided free of charge by organisations like us, the Citizens Advice Bureau, CCCS and other local specialists in your area. Some of these companies charge a set up fee and also ask you to sign a contract for services. They do not operate a strategy based debt counselling service and its not in their interests to assist you with some of the methods of dealing with debt that can settle you indebtedness early. If you've been paying a creditor or collector a reduced payment and you find that you have a lump sum available always attempt to negotiate a final settlement to clear the balance that is a reduced percentage of the balance owed. You might owe a company £860 and have a lump sum of £900. If you offer £860 that's what they'll take but try offering £500 or £600. If you've been paying a low monthly repayment for over 2 years then try a lower offer. The creditor will consider the fact that £500 is worth more to the company NOW than the reduced payment of £5 per month. In fact companies use a calculation called "net present value" which calculates the comparison settlement. If you have debts of £5000 or less and a county court judgement (CCJ) you can apply to the court for this order. This order enables the court to administer the debt and the debtor can pay a single payment to the court. This ideal for someone who is simply not good and making agreed payments each month. Anyone applying for this order should seek advice before proceeding to ensure that this is appropriate for their situation and consideration should also be given to making an application for composition order at the same time (see tip "Composition Order) This order is attached to the Administration Order and allows the court to set a composition of the date to a set percentage. ie you might have a total debt of £3500 which is subject to an Administration Order and your repayment is set at £5 per week. Clearly you would not be able to clear this debt at the rate of £5 per week. A Composition order instructs the creditor to reduce the balance owed by a set percentage. If that percentage was set at 14% or 14 pence in every £1 then the creditor would be forced by the order to reduce the balance owed by £1 for every 14 pence paid. This is also a good suggestion to make to creditors who are threatening to apply for a CCJ. Simply mention that if a CCJ is granted you will consider applying for Administration and Composition orders!!! Again you really need to seek further advice before applying for these court orders. Bankruptcy may be an option that's worth considering but many myths and false ideas of bankruptcy exist so its always best to seek advice from organisations that provide free advice on these matters. Your neighbour or work friend may not be the best person to take advice from. Some cases are straight forward and are the best option for many people but for others more specialist advice is needed. The Walsall Money Advice Project subscribes to BAS (Bankruptcy Advisory Service) who provide expert legal advice on issues surrounding property ownership etc. We also accompany every client through the court process ensuring that your never alone when making your Bankruptcy application. If you've made a reduced offer to your creditor or their collector always ensure that you ask them to freeze interest and stop default charges. Its always best to make these offers and requests in writing, keeping a copy for yourself. If your offers refused then try again advising them that you'll be seeking advice from a debt counselling agency if they can't help. Sometimes the mention of a debt counsellor will encourage the company to accept what they will perceive as a better offer from you than they may get from a debt counselling agency. In many cases it will be easier to get a "Collection Company" to agree to a reduced payment than the actual creditor who first controlled the debt. Always remember that organisations like us and the CAB are able to provide help and act on your behalf. We aren't there to judge you but simply to come alongside you and help were possible. Sometimes there isn't enough money left from your budget to pay a substantial amount to each of your creditors. In this case a £1 is better than nothing and shows that you are willing to contribute to the reduction of your debt. A small amount like this is called a "Token Payment". The Walsall Money Advice Project has clients who owe over £60,000 to 5 or more creditors whose monthly payments are token payments of £1 reviewed every 3 to 6 months.
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Seven Stages of Budget & Debt AdviceThe following stages of money advice are used by most debt advisors and provide a good guide for the management of debt Stage One Information Gathering Stage Two Maximising Income Stage Three Contacting Creditors Stage Four Preparing a Personal Budget Stage Five Sorting Out Priority Debts Stage Six Sorting Out Non Priority Debts Stage Seven Offer of Payment to Creditors Stage One Information Gathering You will need to gather as much information as possible Income: List all income, wages, benefits, pensions etc Spending: List all the payments you are making and the methods of payment used. List Debts/Unpaid Bills: List all the bills which are unpaid or that you are having difficulty paying Health and General Circumstances This will include health, family size, distance of travel to work etc. Stage Two Maximising Income Maximising income means checking that you are receiving all the correct benefits and Tax allowances. This may mean a referral to a Welfare Rights Worker for assessment (Citizens Advice Bureau or Local Authority Welfare Rights Team). Stage Three Contacting Creditors Prior to preparing your financial statement you should contact your creditors either by letter or phone (phone if the urgency of possible court action or Bailiff action is threatened) to advise them of your difficulties and that you will be supplying them with more information by letter Stage Four Preparing the Budget The budget should be prepared after you have gathered together all relevant financial information and after you have maximised income. The personal budget is used to * Help you re-assess your spending. The personal budget should be generous rather than restrictive to take account of unexpected expenses. Keys points to remember when preparing the Budget Income Start your budget by listing you income Wages: Enter your wages and partners wages in the appropriate boxes (see financial Statement). If the wages change each week or month then take an average of the last 3 or 4 payments, only including overtime if it is regular. If you intend to work out your budget on weekly amounts and you are paid monthly then times the monthly figure by 12 and divide by 52. Benefit: List all Benefits, some may have money deducted direct and you may be able to negotiate a reduction. Non Dependant Contributions: Non Dependants are people who live with you although there are some exceptions ie boarders but have their own income. They should be contributing towards the household. Spending The next step in formulating your budget is to list your spending Rent, Mortgage, Second Mortgage or Secured Loan: Enter the normal payments that are made do not include arrears Here's a rough guide to acceptable amounts for your budget Single Person £25 to £35 a week Magistrates Court Fines These are for fines only not CCJ's which may be reduced Stage 5 Sorting Out Priority Debts After completing your assessment of the income and essential spending you can calculate the amount of monies available for priority payments. This is achieved by deducting your spending from your income. What is a PRIORITY payment? Any payment which can result in serious action or loss is a priority If you do not pay these the following can happen: Mortgage Lose your home Do Not Include Credit - There is no Disconnection or Imprisonment The Priorities: In your budget list the total amounts that are owed as priority balances and list the current weekly arrears payment. After doing this you may be able to negotiate lower repayments, Mortgage, 2nd Mortgage/Secured Loan: You will not have to pay arrears in one go and can arrange to pay these over several months or even years. Divide the amount by 24 months, if this is too much try 36 months and so on. If you cannot afford to pay anything off the arrears the mortgage lender may be able to rearrange the mortgage. Council Tax: The Council Tax Office will generally accept a reduced level of repayment. Magistrates Court Fines: These can be taken back to court to be reassessed and Stage 6 Sorting Out Non Priority Debts Dealing with creditors. Remember credit debt is not a priority and therefore comes last when making arrangements to pay. The golden rule in dealing with Credit is that you must take into account all your credit. This means credit that you are up to date with as well as those you are in arrears with. If you have already been taken to court for not paying credit you will have to deal with this separately. If there is no money available for credit you will need to write to each creditor advising them of your situation How much to pay your creditors. Step 1 You will need to list all the creditors and the balances that are owed on the accounts. You may need to write to each creditor requesting this information. PRO RATA PAYMENTS The following calculation will enable you to share out the available money for credit fairly so that the biggest balance gets the largest share of the money available. Divide each credit balance owed by the total balance owed on credit, then multiply the answer by your money available for credit to give you an offer of payment. Stage Seven Offer of Payment to Creditors You have now completed your income and expenditure statement with offers of payment to creditors. You will need to write to each creditor advising them of your circumstances. It is advisable to include information on illness, housing conditions, family status and anything which may relate to your needs. Note
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"The Walsall Money Advice Project always recommends using a debt advice agency that doesn't charge for its services"
The aim of these pages is to give you practical skills that will enable you to minimise expenditure and manage any existing priority and non priority debt that you possess. There are some terms and procedures that are used and referred to by debt advisors. It is important that these are explained prior to any attempt to engage in budgeting and debt management.
Debt - When we refer to debt we mean any bill that an individual has which they cannot afford to pay or if they do pay has a detrimental effect on their expenses.
Priority Debts - A Priority debt is a debt which if left unpaid can result in Imprisonment, Eviction or Disconnection
Non Priority Debts - A Non Priority is a debt which if left unpaid will not result in any of the above. County Court In general terms, the County Court deals with civil matters and therefore most debts recovered in the county court are considered as non priority debts. There are exceptions to this rule - Rent, Mortgage, and Water Rates although recovered through the County Court are considered priority debts if they relate to the current property that you live in.
Magistrates Court - The Magistrates Court deals with criminal matters and therefore any debt recovered through the Magistrates Court is considered a priority.