Find your local bureau

Find your local bureau

Site updated:

2 September 2010

Help with debt

daughter helping mother with bills

If you’re in debt, you need to take action quickly to stop the situation getting any worse.

To start dealing with your debt problems, look at our page on How to sort out your debts. This will help you work out how much money you owe and whether you’ve got any urgent debts. Then you'll need to look at the section on Budgeting to see if you’ve got enough money to pay off your debts.

How to sort out your debts

Information to help you sort out how much money you owe and work out which are the most important debts to pay first

 

How to dispute a debt

Help to work out if you have to pay back a debt and what you can do if you don't think you owe the money

 

Budgeting

Help with how to work out how much money you’ve got coming in and going out of your household, whether you’ve got enough money to pay your debts, how to spend less money and how to increase your income. There is also an online budgeting tool to help you work out offers to non-priority creditors

 

Options for dealing with debt

Help to work out what options you have for dealing with your debts, including dealing with creditors yourself, getting help from a debt management company or debt advice agency, loan consolidation, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Debt Relief Orders and bankruptcy

 

Dealing with urgent debts

Help to work out which are the most urgent debts to pay off first and how to deal with the people you owe these debts to. There is also information about council tax, income tax, gas and electricity, child support, court fines and rent arrears

 

How to deal with your creditors

Help to deal with debts such as credit card, hire purchase, overdrafts, catalogue debts and other loans. There is help to work out a repayment plan for your creditors and  tips on how to get them to accept the plan

 

Bankruptcy

Information about bankruptcy, including the pros and cons of bankruptcy, how to go bankrupt and what happens when a bankruptcy order is made

 

Debt relief orders

Information about debt relief orders which is an order you can apply for if you can't afford to pay off your debts. It's a cheaper option than going bankrupt, but you must have debts of less than £15,000 and be on a low income

 

Individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs)

Information about IVAs which are an alternative to bankruptcy. An IVA is a formal agreement to pay back your creditors either some or all of the money you owe them over a fixed period of time

 

Debt Remedy Tool

An online debt remedy tool from the debt advice charity CCCS

 

Nationwide logo


Debt fact sheets

Adobe Acrobat symbolYou'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the fact sheets.

Online tools

tools symbolInteractive tools to help you manage your debt