Personal debt (of which a substantial amount is credit card and unsecured loans) in the UK stood at a staggering £1,457 billion at the end of January 2010 and someone, somewhere, is declared bankrupt or insolvent every five minutes. These cold statistics don’t even touch on the full story or identifying the real casualties of debt.
All the latest studies show that debt can dramatically affect family life. On average, 78% of people surveyed say that being in debt has affected relationships within their family and 75% say that debt has had a serious effect on their health. As many as 88% say that worrying about debt is keeping them awake at night. That situation is aggravated as the same surveys find that serious debt issues are typically ignored for as long as nine months before something happens which finally triggers action. These epiphanies can include divorce, the threat of repossession or a visit from a bailiff, job loss or redundancy, or a serious health problem.
Because most people’s knowledge of how to deal with a serious debt problem is virtually non-existent, when they do decide to go for help, many simply don’t know where to turn. Many look to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, but this government funded and volunteer-staffed organisation is overloaded given the depth of the current credit crisis. Its advisers are faced with over 7,000 new debt problems every day. So, is there anyone left to turn to?
Families in debt desperately need timely, honest, straightforward advice. There are some less than reputable companies in market offering questionable advice with their own commercial gain uppermost in their minds. Guardian Financial Group and it’s sister company Credit issues have been at the forefront of preaching and practicing the very highest professional standards, regulated as they are by the Ministry of Justice and using their own, highly qualified, in-house legal team to ensure success.
In a lot of cases there are usually straightforward solutions to serious debt problems. If the debt that’s causing concern is on credit cards or unsecured loans that were taken out before 6th April 2007, it may even be possible to have the amount completely written off! Credit Issues recently challenged a client’s credit card balance of over £16,000 due to some inaccuracies in the administration procedure of the lending institution. The debt had been sold to a debt recovery agency after the client fell behind with his payments. A certain about of his debt was found to be covered by professional indemnity insurance also. After examining the agreement Credit Issues was successful in removing the debt and was able to clear the entire balance of £16,029.50. In the first three months of 2009, Credit Issues has challenged well over a £1 million of consumer debt and is experiencing unparalleled demand for its full on-site specialist legal team.
Other solutions can be as simple as writing to your creditors, using debt management or IVAs, debt consolidation or even bankruptcy. There is always an answer that can get your family life back to normal. Putting unsecured debts into a debt management programme for example can free up more income and allow you start regaining control of your debts. The increasingly popular IVA route will leave you ‘debt free’ after 60 months and a similar solution, called a Protected Trust Deed, is available if you live in Scotland. If you run a small business that has been struggling and found itself in serious debt, your business insurance company may be able to help out with this.
You just need to work out which is the best solution for you and be assured that the advice you are being given is correct, professional and effective. So don’t bury your head in the sand and choose to address your debt issues sooner rather than later. With a plan in place and the possibility that there could be light at the end of the tunnel you’ll be able to get back to a normal and happier family life, free from worry and stress.