Are you in debt in the UK and want to find a way out of it?
Are you In Personal Debt?
- Do you need help or advice to manage your finances?
The following information is for UK residents in need of debt help or debt advice.
In the UK in recent years, the amount of people who have taken on personal debt and further credit has rocketed! Whilst that fact alone is not the end of the world, the amount of people who are not coping with their personal debts is of a great concern for the government and a lot of other financial bodies.
- Our goal at Lewis Alexander is to help as many people as possible who are in debt, clear debt for good.
- Using all the tools we have at our disposal we do our utmost to help every single person that comes to us.
Each person we help is treated as an individual, with respect and confidentiality, focusing on their own set of personal circumstances and then together we devise a debt management plan tailored to their situation. Nothing is imposed … just good honest advice with recommended courses of action at the end of it for you to take up or leave …it’s entirely up to you.
- Is your life restricted by debt?
- Would you like to clear those financial restrictions?
- Would you prefer to enjoy your life without debt?
A debt management plan can help once we have looked at all your debts against your earnings, we can devise an informal repayment plan to ensure your interest and charges are kept to the absolute minimum and help you by negotiating with your creditors directly.
Don’t pay for advice about debt consolidation loans, consolidating all your debt into one easy, affordable monthly repayment through debt management UK or another loan is effective, even if previously refused loans. However, you should be aware that any loan application is subject to your current financial status.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement or IVA, this is a formal agreement between you and your creditors over a fixed term (usually 60 months) after which you are clear of debt as long as you maintain your agreed monthly repayments. You should not receive any further phone calls or letters from your creditors once you enter into an IVA however restrictions do apply especially if you are a homeowner.
With a Trust Deed in Scotland you will find the law in Scotland is slightly different, but in it’s basic form, the Trust Deed is the same as an IVA. The term of a Trust Deed is shorter (usually 36 months) but apart from that, the agreement is very similar.
- Make the choice today and ensure what you pay towards your debts actually goes towards reducing debt instead of just paying or servicing the interest.
Sometimes we even manage to get the interest and charges frozen with the informal debt management plans we set up for people reducing the time needed to pay off the debt however this can not be guaranteed.
- Are you confused with the amount of information being directed at you all the time regarding your personal debts?
Call us FREE from a UK land line using 0800 018 6868 and we will help you identify your best solution, you may not even need anything formal to give you the route through to clearing your debts, perhaps just a fresh eye is all that would be needed to show you the way forward, and if you do need formal debt help, we will advise you what would be best suited to your needs.
- With so many people in the UK struggling from week to week with their debts, wouldn’t you like to be one of the ones who gets them self out of the debt trap?
- Don’t remain chained to your debts for one day longer than is absolutely necessary, there is an alternative.
Call a Lewis Alexander trained debt advisor today, call free from a land line using 0800 018 6868, all calls are dealt with confidentially.
We have so many clients who come to us for debt help after being with another debt management company first. in many cases, they were given advice based on that company’s desire to make money rather than for the right reasons.
- The right reasons being getting the client out of debt!
We get told so many stories about how people have been charged for advice or then get charged all kinds of hidden fees during their time with other debt management companies.
- IMPORTANT: Never pay for initial debt advice!
We advise people from all walks of life about personal debt help, from road cleaners to doctors, caretakers to social workers and soldiers to lawyers. No one type of person is immune to getting into debt. The good thing about working with Lewis Alexander is that everything is dealt with in a confidential manner.
- Are some particular groups of people vulnerable?
Because some groups of people in society live on very low incomes or their situation has recently changed meaning a severe drop in income then these people are very vulnerable to getting into debt problems.
- Disabled people in debt
- Debt after a death
- People with a serious illness
- Pensioner debt
- Student debt
- People who have been made redundant
Whilst this is obviously not an exhaustive list of all the categories of people we help it does represent a large percentage of people who do experience personal debt problems.
- Other debt related issues can be things such as;
Been refused credit
If you have been refused a loan or other kind of credit, find out what you can do.
Your credit rating
If you are having trouble getting credit, find out what information is being held about you on your credit file.
Repair your credit rating
Use the information found on your credit report to remove false entries or repair your credit rating.
Identity theft
What is identity theft and what are the dangers of it happening. Read how to protect yourself from identity theft.
- Call today to see if we can help you clear your personal debt
Getting into debt seems to be an easy thing to do in modern Britain. It is reassuring though, to know that there are places you can go where you know categorically that you will get the help you need to deal with that debt.
Get in touch with us today and we will show you very quickly that we are one of those places!
- Calls from landlines are free using 0800 018 6868
Get advice about how to deal with personal debt
- Sadly, no such manual exists but there are great places we come across throughout our lives that are great sources of really helpful information.
- We aim to be one of those places for anyone quietly struggling with debt having to juggle different credit card or bank debts on a daily basis.
We have helped a huge number of people either get their finances back to a healthy position or have helped them better manage, reduce and finally clear debts. We give invaluable advice to people every day about managing their personal debt problems and we are ready to help you too.
- Would being clear of debt suit you?
No-one enjoys having excessive personal debt but sometimes a change in circumstance happens to us which can make this far more likely. Life events like an unexpected illness, a redundancy, a divorce or even a death can contribute towards the reasons people find themselves getting deeper into debt.
If one of these events has caused you to fall behind on your debt repayments or become more concerned about your debt situation than you were before, then we can help. Starting off by giving you honest, clear and effective advice about your situation could possibly help you better manage your debts. We would then lay out debt solutions we think would help you get out of debt.
- Not all solutions suit everyone but we try to offer the most practicle one for you.
- Does any of this apply to me?
The most common thing we hear at the beginning of the debt recovery process is how people couldn’t grasp that it could happen to them. A lot of people think that serious debt problems happen to others, not them.
- Do you have creditors calling on the phone, writing letters or even banging on your door?
- Do you find you are getting lots of bank charges because you are always overdrawn?
- Do you pay for normal household expenses with credit?
- Once you’ve paid all your bills and your credit repayments, are you left with next to nothing?
If you have answered YES to one or more of these questions then you are more than likely struggling with your personal debt commitments.
Once you have decided that you wish to clear debt, we will ask you a few questions about your current situation and then we will be able to make recommendations about what debt management solution would be best suited to you. Then, when you choose which route you wish to go down, we will help put that plan into practice and give you help to implement that plan into your daily life.
- DON’T WAIT - get help today!
Your personal debt management solution could be one of the processes we have at our disposal for helping people with debts.
It may be that you need to re organise with professional debt management, or it may be that you need some kind of debt consolidation loan, or perhaps an IVA is what you would be best to consider.
All of these processes are designed to prevent your debts becoming worse and eventually ending up causing you trouble in the courts. For example a CCJ or Bankruptcy.
For confidential advice call us free from landlines using 0800 018 6868
One great way of moving out of recession is to encourage increasing levels of trade within your own country. As more goods and services are demanded, there are two choices for industry.
- We can either (a) Increase the price, or (b) work a little bit harder to meet this increased demand.
Since the economy currently has recognisable ‘slack’ (as there are resources that are not being used or out of work) in most cases the decision made is likely to be to increase supply to meet this increased demand.
As in most things that relate to large scale finances, these things work in cycles. Once demand starts to increase, and companies work harder or use more resources to meet this demand, it means that more money is spent and any staff employed would then receive increased wages and thus have more disposable income to spend on even more goods and services.
Once industry output is increased and sales start to improve, this often results in management teams looking to new markets to see where they can further expand sales – as they recognise that their business is on the up. With the increasing trend towards a global economy, any plans to expand sales are likely to include thoughts about breaking into new markets abroad.
When these plans are put into practice, despite an initial outlay, any successes then mean that outside investment is then brought into the economy as foreign funds are spent on UK goods and services. These funds are ‘new’ funds (rather than money that has been recycled in the UK economy) and as a result provide greater funds that are available for investment, or indeed create additional disposable income.
- So does the encouragement of the slogan ‘Buy British’ have any real impact?
Well, if you agree with the above points, then you will certainly think it does! But beyond this, it makes a statement to the EU and our other trader partners or potential trade partners that we believe in the British made products and British provided services. Such confidence in your own domestic output does radiate to other countries and helps create a perception of quality. The success of BMW & Mercedes in the car industry, Sony & Panasonic in the electronics industry and single malt scotch all show that where locals truly believe in a product or brand, this is reflected in how a brand is perceived across borders.
- So do you buy British?
- Or are you influenced by price or indeed the latest magazine that talks about ‘top buys’ for that month?
To be perfectly honest, this blog writer must admit to making some brand substitutions in recent times. As the cost of living rises, the tendency to move away from British brands (in favour of cheaper alternatives) increases. Expensive fresh British cuts of meat have been replaced by the odd frozen meal here and there, and Cadburys has most definitely been sidelined in favour of any cheaper chocolate options.
If this financial climate is creating you difficulty and you think you need help with debt then call Lewis Alexander to see if we can help set you back on a sound personal financial path. Our advisors are available on 0800 018 6868 and we can conduct a financial health check for you to understand why you are struggling to meet your existing commitments.
- So call us today on 0800 018 6868
- Since the quake has struck, thousands have been confirmed dead, thousands more are missing, the country’s infrastructure has been devastated and almost 20% has been wiped from the stocks listed on the Nikkei.
In the UK, our favourite topic of conversation is the weather. However, we are sat in temperate climbs, with only very minor seasonal changes (in comparison to others) and very little in the way of seismic activity.
Perhaps it’s about time we considered ourselves a little more than fortunate!
To watch the devastating pictures of the world’s third largest economic power brought to its knees, certainly for this blog writer, brought home how critical the economic restructuring of the economy in the UK really is.
As the coalition government attempts this restructure, it occurs to me that should such an event have occurred in the North or Atlantic seas then the UK would be condemned to generations of recession, stagflation and a possible return to the Victorian era quality of life.
Over the other side of the world, as billions and billions of Japanese Yen are poured in aid to support the stricken country, these funds are going to need to be matched with determination, engineering expertise, time and patience to spark a recovery. Possibly over the next five years or more.
Sickeningly ironic, is the fact that the economic impacts of the tsunami continue to ripple around the world. Whilst it does seem somewhat inappropriate to think of oneself during such terrible times, it is perhaps the pressure on oil prices that should be of most concern to the world economy. With Japan’s status as one of the world’s largest energy importers, this need is only likely to rise in the aftermath of the ongoing nuclear disaster and subsequent reviews.
Almost 30% of Japan’s energy is currently derived from the nuclear industry and with nuclear energy production under question, together with the need for increased energy to support regeneration, this is only going to have one effect on oil prices and thus the upward pressure on UK inflationary figures will place UK households already struggling to make ends meet in even harder financial hardship.
- In the UK we are also likely to see rising prices of insurance products, increased pressure on pension funds (through the lost value of International and specifically Pacific Rim stocks), and further increased pressure on home energy prices and prices at the pump.
- This may all leave you remarkably short and starting to struggle with your everyday finances. If this sounds like you, then it is perhaps time to get in touch with a debt management company to help you review your financial situation.
Here at Lewis Alexander we have debt management specialists available.
By calling 0800 018 6868 you can speak to our experts and start to restructure your own personal finances in what is an increasingly challenging world.
We start by understanding the full details of the commitments you already have and then work with you to understand what you can afford to pay each month. Once our experts have a view of your complete financial picture we can then look at ways to improve your financial situation and put you in a better position.
The current world economic and geological climate is as challenging as we have ever known it, but by getting organised and being disciplined, Lewis Alexander will try and help you manage any personal debt problem you may have.
- Call us FREE from a land line today on 0800 018 6868 now.
- We are waiting for your call!
- In a world of increasing speculation we all have an idea of what the real reasoning behind a sale like this could be but have any of us actually got our fingers on the Google pulse?
As a personal debt consolidation company that specialises in obtaining the majority of client acquisitions through white hat / good seo practices, here at Lewis Alexander we have experienced the pleasures and fantastic results achievable by working hard to obtain top ranking positions in Google and its partners search results.
- The reasoning behind why Google has bought this financial comparison site will be many fold and only time will tell what the real plans and visions held by Google for this company really are.
What we can be sure of is that the chiefs at Google know exactly what they are doing. We can also be sure that the north London entrepreneur John Paleomylites, founder of BeatthatQuote is also on the same wavelength as Google re comparison search, hence the deal.
We believe that this purchase is the start of a claim by Google in the UK online comparison world, the ability they have to define the ergonomics of a site and functionality whilst still retaining profitability is second to none and within 3 years we predict Google to have cornered the entire UK comparison market, regardless of the current size and worth of comparison sites such as “comparethemarket”, “GoCompare” and “MoneySupermarket”. It is the not for profit experience that will prevail.
We may be wrong but after working alongside the Google algorithm for the past 8 years and watching with interest many progressive changes implemented by Google, one thing we know is that Google is to be trusted as a partner and will not hinder a genuine quest for natural, relevant and organic search listings, if you pull Google by the tail and try and creep around the back door you will have yourself to blame! In fact from our own experiences, Google only seems to penalise companies if they are employing black hat / bad seo practices.
- Google rewards effort, it is as simple as that!
To obtain top search engine rankings in industries such as financial services, you may have to enlist the help of internet advertising consultants that can “power” your site or help you develop it into a high ranking site through “on page” and “off page” optimisation.
At Lewis Alexander we are debt management specialists and without the seo injection into our company, we would not have been able to sustain such a competitive and prominent online presence when compared to our larger PLC sized competition. The larger companies have caught up with seo rankings as they were and still are known to use the “get it now” method of PPC or pay per click. Since market forces have become harder for most companies, the marketing spends have in turn reduced and most of these larger debt companies have reduced spend on often expensive PPC or pay per click advertising.
- Mastering strategies to obtain an enquiry at a lower cost to larger competition was something that businesses world over fought hard to achieve and regularly failed at, this was prior to the internet revolution.
Lewis Alexander is eternally grateful to Google for creating such a platform that enables smaller competition to flourish in the manner it does. Without this type of technology clients and potential consumers would only get to see the adverts of the personal debt consolidation companies with the deepest pockets. Surely that would not be fair!
- For personal debt help and advice you can call the Lewis Alexander personal debt helpline using 0800 018 6868.
- Thus Brits in their thousands are turning to debt management companies to help them reduce their debt commitments and regain control of the family finances.
Those in the upper middle classes (and certainly those with a combination of wealth, financial acumen and discipline) are increasingly scoffing at such behaviour – indeed part blaming it for compounding the economic difficulties of the past 3 or 4 years.
- But whose fault is it really?
- The banks for making such poor lending decisions in the first place?
- Or us, the general public, for accepting offers of such easy money?
Having developed a mini debt mountain of your very own, once it becomes unserviceable (and certainly once you are unable to perform balance transfer magic or rob Peter to pay Paul) then the next stop can be quite drastic. Alternatives include going cap in hand to a family member, taking an equity loan on your house – should you be lucky enough to have any equity – or entering into a debt management plan or IVA.
When debt management companies first sprang up in the UK way back in the early nineties, there were a number of small to medium sized companies offering a debt management service to their clients. During recent years, these have been narrowed down to a few and now this market exists as an oligopoly with a few large players claiming the majority of the marketplace and its clients.
Where this happens, the inevitable consequences are poor customer service, service failures and a lack of personalisation. Look at any market run by a few small players and you will see the same. You can move or leave debt management companies!
- Energy companies are blighted by their inability to get household bills correct.
- Banks think it ok to outsource customer services to non-English speaking countries.
Should you have taken out a debt management plan with one of the large companies, it’s understandable that you may not feel personally served. Hidden fees in your terms and conditions, charges for break clauses, or simply the inability to talk to anyone who actually manages your case on a day to day basis is frustrating, infuriating and very much the opposite to the glossy brochure you were sent originally!
Here at Lewis Alexander we take a different view. As an established name in debt management, we ensure all our clients are afforded a personal, professional service that cannot be matched by our competitors. One dedicated point of contact throughout your dealings.
- Once we have taken your case, we appoint a senior case manager who will be your contact throughout the period of time you use our service.
- Whilst we can’t promise they are available 24/7 (we do encourage our advisors to get a good night’s sleep!) we do promise that if your case manager is not available to take your call, then we will take your details and get your case manager to call you back when they become available.
- Our call centre is also based in the UK, so you will not need to learn another language just to speak to us! Lines are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
By retaining this personal touch we believe that fewer mistakes are made when evaluating your financial situation during our initial financial healthcheck. We don’t simply set up arrangements for clients unless we truly believe there is a benefit to you. This time investment at the start of the process means that more of our clients are happy with what we do for them. As we strongly believe that recommendation is our strongest avenue of new client attainment, this means that we generate most of our new clients via existing client referrals.
Finally, we are completely open with our charges and encourage our customers to review our terms & conditions and our competitor’s offerings to ensure that any solution we offer is competitive. We also display our debt management plan charges clearly and concisely up front. We know that being in debt is extremely stressful and so we don’t want our clients to be worrying about ‘the small print’ in our terms of business!
- So call a personal finance advisor today! Our trained consultants are available by calling our freephone number – 0800 018 6868.
- See if you can make a difference to your personal finances now and use a trusted financial services company as seen on TV to help you through a difficult time.
We look forward to speaking with you soon and working together to get you out of the personal debt problems you may face.
- Our number again is 0800 018 6868.
- Call FREE from a landline today for a financial healthcheck!
Pregnant, with your third baby on the way, the two bedroom starter home that you and your husband had long outgrown (even before the twins came along) just had to be upgraded, so you took an unsecured bank loan of £10k to fund the costs of moving.
By the time the solicitors, estate agents, removers had been paid and you had gone on a trip to B&Q to buy some paint for the new nursery, there was none of that £10k left! Still, with 6 months left on your maternity leave, you had no immediate worries as you had that secure job in a legal firm. Even in times of trouble there was always a need for bankers, accountants and lawyers.
- Wasn’t there?
You decided to extend your maternity leave for a few extra months. Extra time with baby was more important than the job! which quite frankly, would be there when you were ready, and used to the idea of placing young Emily into nursery. This time round though felt different, with a baby girl to go with your twin boys it had restored balance in the family. She would be your last and so making the new house a true home became the priority.
- The spending, therefore, continued!
Nice outfits for baby (nicer ones for mum!) expense after expense on the new house including a rather unpleasant row with the neighbours over replacing their fence! Meant that further unsecured borrowing followed on credit cards, together with an extension to that initial bank loan. In fact, by the time that you were ready to return to work almost a full year after Emily was born, you found that rather than economising like you had with the twins, you had burnt through some £40k!
Still it wouldn’t matter, as you were bound to get a decent bonus on your first year back and that would start to set you straight! Except you returned in the spring of 2009, there had been no pay-rise whilst you had been away and the firm had lost some significant clients as they quite inconsiderately went bankrupt during the credit crunch – that you had vaguely paid attention to on working lunch!
No bonuses or pay-rises in either 2009 and 2010 together with those astronomical nursery fees meant that your £40k unsecured debt mountain was not shrinking in any way shape or form! The kitchen still needed replacing (and probably the bathroom too) and you were fed up sleeping on that lumpy, dumpy old mattress!
- It all starts to feel a bit much!
Despite the family having a household income of nearly £60k a year, you seemed to be struggling under the weight of paying back your unsecured debt!
- Surely there are others in your situation?
- How do you start getting back on an even keel?
Well, the first step of any difficulty is admitting that you have a problem and by getting this far through our blog post you have probably admitted to yourself that this is indeed you!
Still, don’t panic as the debt management specialists at Lewis Alexander can help you to clear personal debt problems whilst also making that unsecured debt mountain less of a daily problem in your life.
We start by taking some important details about you, your finances, your current priority and non priority debt commitments and get some more information about your personal circumstances before starting to tailor a debt management plan that is best suited to you.
At Lewis Alexander we don’t force IVAs onto our clients as we respect that this isn’t always the answer – particularly for respected professional people who have had a bit of bad luck or made a small error of judgement along the way.
Call our debt helpline free from a landline using 0800 018 6868 and we can start to talk through the specifics of your situation. We treat all our communications in the strictest of confidence and we understand that you may need some time to consider the financial options or debt solutions that are available to you.
At Lewis Alexander we give you this time and would like to help you when you are ready to commit to a best suited debt solution.
- All we ask it that you have a commitment to reducing your unsecured debts and a regular source of income.
- Our free phone number again is 0800 018 6868.
Get in touch today and see if we can make a difference to yoru daily financial life!
One of the most depressing aspects of being in a considerable amount of personal debt is the percentage of your monthly income that is spent attempting to service all of these debts.
During the early part of the ‘naughties’ credit was widely available and priced considerably less than in the early 1990’s (and indeed today!) which resulted in many of us taking out more than we could reasonably afford.
What started out as repaying a couple of hundred pounds on an interest-free credit card taken out a couple of years ago, can quite easily extend to a hire-purchase repayment for the car, a bank loan for the new conservatory, the sofa and kitchen on interest-free credit plus an additional credit card that you took out for that holiday!
Before you know it the small debt portfolio or molehill that you thought you had accumulated looks more and more like a debt mountain with each passing day!
Monthly finances start to become quite tight and you find that the majority of your income is spent repaying debts and paying the mortgage or rent. This is without an unforeseen change in circumstances such as loss of job or illness etc.
So, as it’s a new year, you did the sensible thing and sat down with a pen and piece of paper to work out exactly what you owed and whom you owed it to. The shopping list of debt looked something like this:
- Hire purchase for the Ford Mondeo – £12k over 5 years
- Bank loan for conservatory – £10k over 7 years
- Interest-free Sofa – £1500 over 3 years
- Interest-free kitchen – £6k over 4 years
- 2 x credit cards – Balance £9k
Then comes the maths… so, twelve plus ten add the six, oh and the nine and the little bit for the sofa and oh my goodness I owe almost forty thousand!! No wonder I feel like the majority of my monthly income is being spent on repaying debt! It really can be that easy. Next you sat down and worked out how much you were repaying each month:
- Car payment – £245
- Bank Loan – £150
- Sofa – £42
- Kitchen – £125
- Credit card minimum payments – £265
which totals a whopping £827 per month! By the time you’ve added a mortgage payment of £800 and the monthly utility bills of £400 and you have spent almost all of your household’s total income of £2,200 – a not untypical figure for Britain in 2011.
With food, petrol, insurance, clothes and household essentials still to be paid out of the £200 remaining, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that things are going to be tight and that’s well before the luxuries of Sky TV and a summer holiday are thrown into the mix.
If all this is starting to get you down then don’t worry. One free call to Lewis Alexander on 0800 018 6868 could be the start of your road to financial recovery. Our trained debt management specialists will treat your call in the strictest of confidence and will listen to your personal circumstances before starting to work on solutions to help you.
Unlike other debt specialists we won’t look to force you down a certain route, but will instead explain the options that are available to your personal circumstance – allowing you to choose the debt solution that suits you best.
We are specialists in working with creditors to find solutions for our clients and will work hard to ensure that you are treated fairly. All we ask in return is that you do have a regular monthly income coupled with some will power to stick to an arrangement.
Our free phone number again is 0800 018 6868 and our trained advisors are used to speaking to clients who are experiencing personal debt problems. We know that this can be a stressful time, particularly if large percentages of your income are being used to repay debts.
At Lewis Alexander we are committed to finding the best debt solution for you, so give us a call today using free phone 0800 018 6868
- Your financial past does not have to be your financial future!
The moment you realised that your personal debt repayments totalled almost as much as you earned each month you decided enough was enough.
With Christmas having been and gone it’s time to get your life in order!
So you sat down, worked out exactly what you owed to each credit card, store card and personal loan and set about with a new found determination that every new year brings to sort out your finances once and for all.
- Step 1 – Review current financial situation
Not being an expert in negotiating with large multi-national corporations you decided that it would be a good idea to get in touch with some experts, so armed with your financial review you sensibly booked in with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau to ask their opinion on your next steps.
The advisor at Citizen’s Advice was helpful and you got some reassurance that your initial steps were on the right lines. You had worked out what you owed to each creditor and the advisor helped you work out the priority for repaying each debt. You also got some tips and were pointed to their website on some tips to deal with creditors.
- Step 2 – Get some expert information about being in debt
Armed with your new found knowledge you set to writing letters to your creditors outlining your difficulties, stating what you could pay and asking for some consideration in agreeing to this new revised schedule. To your dismay all that came back was a stream of standard letters (created by a non-human) and a request for you to either fill in a form or phone them up to discuss your situation further – hadn’t they actually read your letter and considered what you were asking?!
Not wanting to be defeated and armed with a list of telephone numbers and letters received from your creditors, you continued with your quest. Three calls in and it was proving to be slightly more difficult than you thought. The ‘nice and friendly’ customer services agents that you normally were connected to had been replaced with a sterner, forceful and more abrupt advisor who seemed intent on getting you to agree to repaying more than you could afford and taking instant payments over the phone.
- Step 3 – Gain agreement to changes to your debt repayments?
The first thing to say is that all is not lost!
By completing steps 1 and 2 you are already in a much better position than many other people in the same personal debt situation as you. By understanding what you owe, who you owe it to and the priority of your debt repayments it makes it much easier to seek help.
At Lewis Alexander our dedicated debt management specialists are uniquely placed to provide professional advice, guidance and ultimately provide solutions to your personal debt problems. All it takes is one free call to 0800 018 6868, our lines are open 24 hours a day.
We can talk through your situation, listen to the concerns you have and start working on a solution with your creditors that takes the stress and pressure away from you. The majority of our clients have fallen into difficult circumstances through no fault of their own and as long as you have a regular source of income and a genuine determination to keep to a revised debt repayment plan then we can help.
Call Lewis Alexander today on 0800 018 6868 and start to clear your personal debts whilst also stop fearing every telephone call or knock at the door. We have helped many people in debt who want to change their lives and we strive to provide a great service to our existing clients. You can read what our clients think of us at our client testimonial page.
- Call us now using free phone 0800 018 6868 and make 2011 the year you got your finances back on track!
- Interest rates in the UK have been held by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee at an all-time record low of 0.5% since March 2009.
- For many on variable rate or tracker mortgages, this has meant some 21 months of financial heaven, with reduced mortgage payments or the opportunity to pay down some of the capital.
For many, it has represented a welcome breather from the sky-high mortgage payments, but for those who have not budgeted properly, any rise in UK mortgage rates could prove a nasty financial surprise during 2011.
Without wishing to go into the long (and frankly boring) relationship between the Bank of England base rate, the rate that banks lend to each other (LIBOR), how banks actually fund mortgage lending and mortgage rates themselves, instead this short blog post will focus on what this means for general vulnerable consumers.
- In the pre-credit crunch world, mortgage rates tended to sit between 0.19% and 1.69% above the Bank of England base rate. So, with base rates sat at 5%, mortgages were commonly available between 5.19% and 6.69%.
Now, despite the government offering significant financial support to the UK’s retail banks and also pumping billions of £ sterling into the economy through a policy of quantitative easing, the difference between the BoE base rate and mortgage rates is significantly higher.
At the time of writing this post, the BoE base rate is still set at 0.5% and according to a very well known animal-friendly comparison website “compare the market” mortgage rates for comparison varied between 2.3% and 5.9% – as much as 5.4% above BoE base rate.
Whilst this is a very crude measure (as mortgage rates are impacted by costs of application, valuation and arrangement) it is clear that the cost of borrowing to the everyday man in the street is higher.
If there are interest rate rises during 2011, customers on variable or tracker rate mortgages would not need to see rates rise massively, before their mortgage payment is back to pre-credit crunch levels. Indeed if Bank of England base rates were to return to close to 5%, this could cause considerable problems for many households.
- Is there anything that you can do to prevent this situation from affecting you and your family, to avoid getting into financial difficulties?
Well, a good start would be to review your household incomings and outgoings to understand exactly where money is being spent. Here at Lewis Alexander, we have in house debt management experts who have considerable experience in working with consumers to help them solve personal debt problems.
- And in our experience, many financial difficulties can be avoided through sound financial planning.
Having understood your household budget, if you have any surplus available, then rather than spending your entire income, it would be worth investigating savings options or the flexibility of your mortgage. By building up your savings, or by over-paying a flexible mortgage you may be able to build up a pot that will help you cover the rising cost of your mortgage should interest rates rise significantly in the coming year.
The most important thing to remember is that interest rates will have to go up at some point if inflation continues to rise. It is also worth remembering that the spare income you may have now is not actually spare, it is an extra disposable gift for a certain time that you should take full advantage of as when interest rates do increase that gift will seem somewhat in the far and distant past!
- Some people are being careful and taking advantage of the reduced rates others are not!
If you are not able to budget for this rise in living costs, and you have other unsecured debts that you are struggling to repay, then don’t worry, help is at hand! One free call to our debt management experts at Lewis Alexander can be the start to a less stressful and healthier financial existence. We start by understanding your financial situation, before recommending a financial solution that is appropriate to your personal circumstances.
At Lewis Alexander, we are able to help a wide variety of ordinary people who are experiencing financial difficulties so long as they have a regular income and the self discipline to stick to a debt repayment schedule.
- Call us free using 0800 018 6868 to discuss your personal situation with one of our personal debt specialists. Our lines are open 24 hours a day to take your call in confidence.
- One call could change your financial future, so make that call today!
So that’s it. University finished, no more exams, some magical memories, but what are you now going to do with that degree in Ancient Greek History? The first thing on most recent graduate’s minds is finding a job and quick. Being poor and scrimping by in the ‘value’ section of Tesco only has its appeal for a few years. Once graduated, the vast majority are keen to find gainful employment and start to think about clearing the mountain of debt that fees, accommodation, food (and let’s not forget the drinking) have created over the past 3-4 years.
The big question is ‘how do I start to repay the debts that have stacked up?’ With a little bit of planning and a lot of self-discipline, this process can be a lot easier than some may make out. Start by making a list of all of your outstanding debts. The typical student will have at least one interest-free overdraft facility, a student-loan and maybe loans from family and the odd credit card thrown in for good measure.
Once you have a complete list of your creditors and the amounts owed to each body, you need to identify the interest rates that you are paying on these debts and the speed with which the creditors will want to be repaid. Believe it or not, but the Bank of Mum and Dad is actually a very reasonable credit facility. Interest rates tend to be nominal and flexible payment arrangements are common!
Repaying debts should therefore start by paying those that charge the highest rate of interest. Typically, this will be a credit card or store card who typically charge between 10% and 40% APR.
With the recent furore over government policy for student debts, it is easy to think that as soon as you have finished University that a Student Loan becomes immediately repayable. This is not the case and any recent graduate should get in touch with their Student Loan provider to discuss their plans, earnings and intention for repaying these loans. Remember that these loans are only repayable when you reach a certain earnings threshold and often attract a more generous rate of interest in comparison to overdrafts, credit cards and store cards.
In some cases, students do get into difficulties early on in their graduate life with the high street bank that had previously been keen to increase their overdraft limit, but now appear to want it all back. It is important to let all of your creditors know what your plans are for post-university life, as many financial organisations (particularly in the current economic climate) are keen to retrieve their funds, and don’t like long periods going by without hearing from their debtors.
Indeed the author of this blog post had a rather nasty experience with a well-known bank as he did not inform them that he had returned to live with his parents following finishing university. This resulted in the bank cancelling his overdraft facility within 2 months of his leaving date and when finally some monies were paid into the account, yours truly was whisked into the Manager’s office with great haste and the entire £1,500 overdraft was called in with immediate effect!
Cases like this are more widespread than you think, and can be easily avoided. A written letter to the bank informing them of your plans can stop this type of practice and it is also likely to lead to more options for graduate banking being offered.
When that first pay check does come in, do spend it wisely! As you will have a picture of your overall finances and details of the rate of interest you are paying you can compare the advantages of speeding up your debt repayments versus a spending-spree on gadgets, designer clothing and the nicer things in life. In some cases it will be more advantageous to repay your debts more quickly rather than entering into savings plans and you should seek financial planning guidance if you have more than £100 per month available at the end of each month.
Leaving the student world and entering the world of work can be a daunting experience, but getting into the habit of good financial planning at the start, can help you to avoid difficulties later on life. Three simple rules should help guide this planning and you can’t go far wrong!
- Always understand who you owe money to and the total you owe to each.
- Have a clear plan for the repayment schedule (i.e. how long you intend to borrow for and the amount that you need to regularly repay).
- Try to re-structure your repayments so that you pay the creditors with the highest rates of interest first.
If you do get into further financial difficulties and find your debt is compunding, you can contact Lewis Alexander on 0800 018 6868. We are debt management company with a proven track record and can offer advice, support and guidance in managing creditors and reducing personal debt. We start by understanding the overall picture of your financial circumstances and then work with you to find a plan that suits you individually and then are able to agree this with your creditors.
As you are at the start of your working life when leaving University, applying the principles of this article will help the vast majority of graduates, but if you are still struggling with your personal finances and as long as you have a regular source of income, together with a will and determination to improve your personal debt circumstances then we can help!
Our professional debt management advisors are ready to take your call, so contact Lewis Alexander on 0800 018 6868, your call is free!
With unemployment currently rising from 2.46 million in the UK, people are increasingly finding that the fact that they found another job shortly after losing the first is not always the end solution. The problem is that when they were going through the period of unemployment, they were set back financially to a point that they cannot recover.
The credit agreements they have fall into arrears and there is little or no chance of earning enough money to catch up, savings have also usually been diminished and this is when the individual starts to seek a personal debt solution such as an IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement.
Hard times are ahead for the UK consumer and people need a solution to clear personal debts that they can trust. The IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a UK government approved scheme that is legally binding between the individual who has the debts and the creditors who have leant the money.
- The IVA usually runs for 5 years (60 months) and has an exact end date.
- Creditors will be expected to stop further interest and charges being applied to the credit accounts whilst the IVA is in place.
- Any money left to pay the creditors at the end of the IVA process will be written off.
- In certain circumstances where the individual is a home owner with equity in their home, they will be expected to release some of this equity in years 3-5 of the IVA agreement. This increases the overall contribution back to the respective creditor.
With the rising cost of living on the horizon, household expenditure in the UK is going to be stretched and only those who plan correctly and take advice when required will survive financial turmoil.
If unemployed, one needs to cut costs and be pro active in finding work, downgrade personal expectations in the current economic climate and accept an income that will provide a living.
People in the UK should now start to gear their lives to living without credit, we have been conditioned as a society to use credit and live by using it. The only people who will succeed in the future financially are those who will reduce their need for credit to a basic level.
If you have been considering a debt solution such as an IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement, you will be familiar with an alternative personal debt solution called a debt management plan. It is important to be aware that a debt management plan is NOT legally binding and does NOT have an exact end date.
Some companies will claim they can write off all your debts, you should be very careful of these claims, only certain amounts of debt can be written off under an IVA agreement and a voluntary petition or creditors’ petition for bankruptcy is the only process that would usually write off 100% of any persons’ unsecured debt.
When you enter into an IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement, your IVA is managed by an Insolvency Practitioner and this person is legally responsible for proposing the case to your creditors and administering the IVA process on your behalf. An IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement should not be entered into without much consideration.
You are at risk of being petitioned for bankruptcy by your creditors should your IVA fail. An IVA can fail for many different reasons and the main one usually is due to the client no longer being able to afford the agreed monthly repayment. In this situation, the Insolvency Practitioner will re assess your income and expenditure and offer advice accordingly of what the best route forward for you would be.
- A great number of people do successfully complete IVAs’ and are then confident that they chose the best solution to clear their debts.
- To qualify for an IVA an individual would have approximately £25000 of unsecured debts and be able to contribute a disposable income repayment of around £250 per calendar month.
Not all situations require an IVA and you should not enter into an IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement without much prior consideration. For further advice regarding personal debt issues please call our free from a landline personal debt helpline using 0800 018 6868, lines are open 24 hours a day and your call is free.
- Personal debt causes a lot of pain due to worrying.
- It’s a major cause of tremendous family quarrels and arguments.
- It can cause huge upheavals in family and friendships as well as your place of work.
If you are worried about debt problems it can start to escalate very quickly and it almost feels as if it is out of control before it actually is. The stress of debt can be very upsetting to anyone that is going through times of financial crisis or hardship.
This is not something that is a problem for only adults but it also affects the younger generations. As times have become harder, many people have dipped into past savings to cope with the harsher economic climate and unemployment. Increasing outgoings and money for basics such as rent, rates and heating are becoming hard to meet and find.
- You may already be in a situation that seems to be getting out of control and you think that there is not much you can do to get yourself out of this debt trap.
- You may be already feeling depressed and unable to sleep.
Let me tell you that even if you are in any of the situations above and as Christmas, the festive season is around the corner, you have many solutions that will make a real difference to the way you feel about yourself and your financial situation.
- You can make one simple phone call to a professional who knows how to deal with your situation!
- You may be going through phases of guilt and shame because of your financial status?
- Professional counsellors have been dealing with these kinds of situations for a long time!
Worrying about your debt can take over your whole life and start you on a path of creating negative views and differing judgment on everything around.
- All of a sudden the situation seems bleak, but there is help available!
Approach a reputable debt management company and you will be put at ease immediately. The most difficult situation is to come to terms with the debt itself, ask for help, seek professional advice from people who have your interests at the heart of what they do, talk to them, and discuss your situation today in confidence.
Once you have made that initial contact you will find that things are not too bad. You will certainly feel that you have the courage to deal with the problems and suddenly you can see a glimmer of light at the end of what seemed to be a long bleak tunnel.
- Are you lying awake at night worrying about debt problems with Christmas just around the corner?
- Have you been wondering how you will cope with trying to keep the children happy over the Christmas period?
- Find yourself getting angry with you and the people around you?
- Are you feeling depressed and feeling that you are all alone in debt?
- Stop… Make one free call now!
Take a look around a few of the best debt management companies, spend a few minutes and check out their credentials. Make a simple phone call and the hardest part is finally over. Your advisor will have a confidential chat with you to see where they can help and with what solutions. Always remember that you need to take action to help yourself make the decisions that may seem difficult initially and start making adjustments to your own lifestyle and expenses.
Lewis Alexander Financial Management offer a first class personal Debt Management Service, nationwide throughout the UK. We are based in Manchester and we have helped thousands of client’s in our history. We employ specialists who concentrate on debt management and loan consolidation and we have been looking after a great number of our clients for many years now.
Contact Lewis Alexander online or call them using UK personal debt helpline 0800 018 6868, lines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and your call is free.
