Personal debt advice in the UK has become an enormous issue for all kinds of reasons. Unfortunately it has had a stigma attached to it in the past which may stop some people dealing with their debt problems. This has the effect of actually making the situation worse when it would be relatively simple to get under control with the right advice on debt.

There are several signs that your personal debts have gotten out of control.

• Are your monthly outgoings starting to outweigh your monthly income?

• Are you scared to answer the phone and open your mail?

• Do you have debt collectors chasing you for money?

There are many possible routes to take when dealing with advice on debt. Every situation is different and a tailored solution needs to be discussed. Any one of the following could be the solution for you to find help with personal debts.

• IVA (or TRUST DEED in SCOTLAND)
• DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN
• BANKRUPTCY
• DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOAN

If you are a bit wary of committing to a fixed term financial solution like an IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement, then debt management can help you restructure debts in the short term. A debt management plan constitutes an informal agreement between you and your creditors.

Loans to consolidate your debts, taking out a consolidation loan to pay off all your current agreements (loans,credit cards etc) is often the simplest option as it can reduce your monthly repayments.

• REMEMBER ADVICE on DEBT SHOULD ALWAYS BE FREE
• Do NOT Pay for advice calling HIGH rate phone lines.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements

With an IVA, all interest and penalty charges are STOPPED! You will be given one affordable monthly repayment to make and this should stop all the creditor phone calls and letters you may currently be receiving.

An IVA will prevent court proceedings and even stop bankruptcy and after what is normally 60 months (5 years). Read about a Trust Deed in Scotland as laws differ there for financial help and assistance.

Bankruptcy is the end of the road as far as debt management or debt help. Once you reach bankruptcy, your finances will be sorted out by the courts. In a nutshell, if you reach the stage where you need to become bankrupt, it will mean that you will get a fresh start and normally your debts will be written off, conditions and restrictions do apply though.

Let one of our trained professional advisors call you today to help give advice on debt and find a solution to your debt problems. Peoples debt problems are rarely unique and we may be able to help you clear debt.

• Call 0800 018 6868 free from landlines, call charges from mobile phones may vary.

Prepare a list of questions that will help you identify if they are trust worthy and reputable, how can you be sure you can trust the actual comparison web site itself.

• Who is doing the homework on the debt management companies being compared and how often is the information updated?

Lewis Alexander was approached by a service claiming to be a debt management company comparison website for people confused by debt, they offered us the opportunity to pay them to be listed on their site, we asked them why we should pay to be compared for the consumers best deal, they could not answer our question so we did not advertise with them.

The lesson we can learn from the likes of Direct Line Insurance is that they cannot be found on comparison websites. This is a very large company owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, why would they not be on comparison websites if they were so beneficial to them or their customers?

The only way we could see a debt management comparison website working was if it listed every debt management plan available in the country to a consumer at the time of the consumer search, without a total comparison of all debt plans available, how would the consumer know which company offered the best deal?

• They would only be aware of the best deal amongst the companies advertising on the debt comparison site. This is NOT a total comparison!

You should be very careful when taking information and advice on something as important as your personal finances.  A company that specialises in comparing companies is doing just that, you should take financial advice off of a company who specialises in giving financial advice and clearing consumer debt, not just one that tries to compare companies that actually do just that.

If you are confused by debt problems and solutions available to clear debts, you can call our free from a landline debt helpline 24 hours a day in absolute confidence using 0800  018 6868.

• Our trained advisors are waiting for your call!

For most people that live in Scotland, the differences between debt solutions that are available in England compared to those in Scotland can be some what confusing to say the least.  If you have previously taken advice from debt agencies and are still struggling to understand the various options available to clear your debts as a Scottish resident, please read this blog post further as we believe this will help you.

• Trust Deed

Most people are now familiar with the term IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), for those that are not, it is a legal agreement between you and your creditors in England ONLY, and is a form of Insolvency that allows you to pay back an amount of the money you owe within a set or fixed period of time, usually 60 months or 5 years.  The remainder of what you owe that has not been repaid is then written off by your creditors leaving you debt free.

• The Trust Deed, is very simply the Scottish alternative to the IVA in England.  The difference is that in Scotland, the Trust Deed lasts for 36 months, not 60 months like an IVA in England.

Creditors are not duty bound to agree to Trust Deeds as they do need to make sure that they are obtaining a satisfactory percentage of the total debt to be repaid.  This is not always possible when the clients circumstances are investigated as the client sometimes does not have enough disposable income (the money left over after essential bills and living costs) each month to meet the financial repayments, in this case the client can then consider a debt management plan or Bankruptcy.

• YOU SHOULD NOT APPLY FOR ANY FURTHER CREDIT ONCE ACCEPTED ONTO A TRUST DEED!

A Trustee will manage your Protected Trust Deed for you and Trust Deeds can only become protected if certain requirements are met by the individual, if the Trust Deed becomes protected, your creditors cannot take legal action against you and the interest or charges on your personal debt will become frozen.

You will NOT be charged to enter a Trust Deed arrangement, your creditors are responsible for paying your Trustee out of the contributions you make whilst the agreement is in place.

• Bankruptcy in Scotland is sometimes referred to by some as Sequestration

Sequestration involves removing or seizing a persons belongings or assets, to a value of the debt owed with a view to being of financial benefit to the creditor owed the money or in some cases this can be for monies owed to the Scottish state.

Laws in Scotland that appertain to personal debt and finance agreements can vary based on what type of agreement you have signed and with which company or lender.  For an exact definition of different legal agreements, you should without question consider speaking with a Scottish Insolvency Practitioner or solicitor.

The above is a very basic explanation designed to give you a brief outline of the differences between, debt help in Scotland and that to the rest of the UK.  For a more detailed explanation you can contact our personal debt helpline which is open 24 hours a day.

IVA or Debt Management

The most difficult decision when trying to clear personal debts can be which debt solution to choose after doing all your homework on the options available.

• Debt Management Plans or
• IVA – Individual Voluntary Arrangements
• are usually the two solutions that people have to decide between. When faced with the two options, there are many factors that influence the choice of informal debt management over an IVA and likewise, an IVA over a debt management plan.

It is very important that you understand the differences between these debt solutions, as if you do not, you could easily have the wool pulled over your eyes by a clever and unscrupulous debt advisor that wants to earn extra commission for placing you onto an IVA as opposed to an informal Debt Management Plan.

A professional debt management company such as Lewis Alexander will offer you advice tailored to your personal situation and if you are better suited to a debt management plan rather than personal Insolvency or an IVA, we will tell you, however, you make the final decision based on the debt advice given to you.

It is your choice no one Else’s!

When you are in debt it can feel like everyone else does not understand your particular situation and that you feel that your debt problems are some how different to all others.  This is not true, it is actually a mental stigma associated with being in personal debt, you are not alone and your financial problem is usually pretty much the same as others around you, it is your personal change in circumstance that will differ to other peoples, this is what creates the problem of being in debt in the first place.

Some people split from partners or others suffer a death in the family, others may have hours at work reduce resulting in less income, the list is endless but what is the same is the debt problem that people find themselves with due to being set back financially by the change in circumstance they may have suffered.

The main difference between an IVA and Debt Management Plan (DMP) is that

• An IVA is a legally binding agreement
• A debt management plan is not.

With a debt management plan you can expect to repay much of what you owe.  With an IVA, the debt that is not repaid within a 60 month period is then written off by your creditors, this is agreed at a creditors meeting prior to the IVA commencing.

The IVA will guarantee to freeze any interest or charges being applied to your accounts, a debt management plan will not and it is down to the hard work and efforts put in by your chosen debt management company as to how quickly your debt is reduced, make your selection regarding your chosen debt company or debt service carefully!

• The cost of choosing or selecting the wrong debt company or agency to solve your debt problems can be as high as the interest being applied by your creditors to your accounts.
• The wrong debt company will have no concern on actually getting the job done, they are more concerned with extracting funds from you and fobbing you off with none truths.

For honest, genuine, debt advice and help in the UK, call our free from a landline personal debt helpline today using 0800 018 6868, your personal details are dealt with in absolute confidence and your call is free!

• Debt Management Plan
• IVA or Trust Deed in Scotland
• Bankruptcy

Lewis Alexanderis a specialist debt management company, we help people clear debts without loans, we also offer a free from a landline debt helpline to UK residents struggling with personal financial problems.  The advice we give is based on individual personal circumstances and is often not what the person (possibly you) wants to hear.

This is where debt counselling comes in, we have a proven method of helping those that wish to be helped.  Often in life, the truth is the hardest to accept, usually with any personal financial problem, there is an element of truth that needs accepting before the individual can move ahead.  That is the hard part to get over and after what we call the acceptance period, the individual feels so much relief from the stress of the debt problem that they really can continue with a normal daily life just like they experienced before being in debt.

If you are suffering with financial problems such as mortgage arrears, missed or late payments on credit agreements etc, you must deal with the situation as soon as possible, in the time it has taken to read this article so far, you could have dialed our free from a landline debt helpline using 0800 018 6868.

Our advisors will help you to make a fresh start financially and offer you tested and proven methods that you can employ to combat the pressure from debt collection agents or lenders that may be chasing you.  Letters and phone calls are the most worrying to people along with the threats of court action.  There are laws that appertain directly to debt collectors and the procedures of collection that they undertake, more importantly, the Office of Fair Trading sets out debt collection guidance that the collection industry is expected to adhere to, just the same as the debt management guidance set out for debt agencies and not for profit debt charities.

For further advice and help on how to clear debts without loans, contact our personal debt helpline today, lines are open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week and your call is FREE.