- 1. Too Much Month at the End of the Money! debt Dr
2. debt Dr Question: If you borrow 4500 on an average high
street credit card, with a minimum payment of 3% and an APR of
15.9%, then try to pay off the balance using minimum payments only,
how long will it take to pay off the debt? Answer: 19 years(and
youll repay 7511 during that time.) 3. debt Dr Being in debt can be
a frightening place and for many people its all too easy.What makes
it all the more stressful is the fact that the whole situation
seems very threatening and its difficult to know what is going to
happen next.Thats why many people tend to bury their heads in the
sand once their debt starts going out of control.This really is the
worst thing to do. 4. debt Dr Here are 4 recommendations to help
you take control 5. debt Dr Know your problem Know your numbers
Know your options Know your rights 6. debt Dr Know your problem
Acknowledge where you are in thelife of a debt problem.Are you at
the beginning and just becoming aware that you might not be able to
keep up repayments? If so, now is the time to act.Have you started
to miss payments and are beginning to receive letters from your
creditors? There is still time to take action and youll probably be
able to negotiate something without damaging your credit rating too
badly. 7. debt Dr Are you starting to get solicitors letters or has
the debt been passed to a credit collection agency? If you ignore
things at this stage it begins to get more complicated and the
courts can get involved.Have you received a court summons or a
County Court Judgment? You need to start talking quickly because
soon after this the bailiffs can get active. Dont worry, wherever
you are in this process you can still find a way out. Your next
step is to do some maths. 8. debt Dr Know your numbers In order to
take control, you must get a clear picture of your financial
position. This is what you will use to negotiate with your
creditors.You need to put together an income and expenditure
document. What this means is that you need to write out all your
income during the month, then write out all your outgoings during
the month. At this stage dont include the repayments you are making
to your creditors, youll work that out later. 9. debt Dr Subtract
the amount of money you have to spend each month to live from the
amountof money you bring in, this is yourdisposable income. Now add
up the minimum monthly payment required for each of the outstanding
debts. Take this figure away from the disposable income youve
calculated. If your disposable income doesnt cover your minimum
repayments then you have to take action as soon as possible. 10.
debt Dr Know your options Its very easy to let worry cloud your
judgment. Be reassured, whatever situation youre in there is a way
out.Your objective is to get out of debt as quickly as possible so
be careful before you commit to consolidating your debts or taking
out a loan secured against your house. As a general rule if you owe
less than 12,000 you should be able to negotiate with creditors
yourself and arrange lower repayments over a longer period. 11.
debt Dr If you can prove, with your income and expenditure
calculations, that the repayment period is unreasonable you may be
able to get them to freeze interest on your account.With debts
above 12,000 there are a number of additional options, some of
which could enable you to write off on average between 30%-50% of
the value of your debt, one of which depending on your situation
may enable you to write off the entire debt.The truth is, being in
debt is complicated and getting yourself out of debt can be even
more so. It is advisable you get professional advice before making
any decisions. 12. debt Dr
13. debt Dr Voluntary Arrangements 14. debt Dr I.V.A. ADVANTAGES
Interest frozen Opportunity to write off some of the debt Usually
period of 60 months (5 years) Creditors must stop chasing if the
arrangement is accepted by 75% of the monetary amount of the debt
Court ratified procedure, although no need to attend Discreet
solutionDISADVANTAGES Regular monthly payments must be met for the
period of the arrangement Creditors have the right to vote for or
against the proposal Any increase in the equity of a property may
have to be realised for the benefit of your creditors during the
term Payments may be raised if your income is increased Credit
rating is detrimentally affected 15. debt Dr Full and Final
Settlements 16. debt Dr FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT ADVANTAGES
Percentage of debts written off Average timescale of 12 - 18 months
One off payment No long term arrangements DISADVANTAGES Lump sum is
required Negative impact on credit file No guarantee of success
Takes a number of months to settle Creditors continue chasing until
settled 17. debt Dr One off IVA 18. debt Dr 1-off IVA ADVANTAGES
Interest frozen Opportunity to write off some of the debt Quick
process (Usually within 6 months) Creditors must stop chasing if
the arrangement is accepted by 75% of the monetary amount of the
voting debt Court ratified procedure, although no need to attend
DISADVANTAGES Lump sum required (normally 25%+) Creditors have the
right to vote for or against the proposalThe settlement figure
needs to be at the value of all realisable assets and there cannot
be any disposable income available Credit rating is detrimentally
affected 19. debt Dr Bankruptcy 20. debt Dr BANKRUPTCY ADVANTAGES
Debts written off Usually period of 12 months (or less) Creditors
must stop chasing their debt Straight forward procedure We will be
with you all the way No longer carries the stigma it used to
DISADVANTAGES 510 cash payment per person on the day Bankruptcy
advertised in press Cannot be a director of a limited company If
you borrow 500 or more, the lender (person/company) must be aware
you are bankrupt Cannot hold certain positions in the community
Your assets are in the hands of the Official Receiver (beneficial
interest, 310 order) Credit rating detrimentally affected 21. debt
Dr Creditor Arrangements 22. debt Dr CREDITOR ARRANGEMENTS
ADVANTAGES Releases immediate pressure from creditorsAllows time
for another solution to be proposedKeeps down monthly expenditure
Straightforward procedure to set up DISADVANTAGES Interest on the
account may not be frozen Payment period could go on for years
Informal arrangement - no legal protection Creditor may use
aggressive tactics at any stage 23. debt Dr Debt Relief Order 24.
debt Dr DEBT RELIEF ORDERS ADVANTAGES Debts written off Usually
period of 12 months (or less) Creditors must stop chasing their
debt Straight forward procedure No need to attend court Only 90
cost DISADVANTAGES Unsecured debts must be less than 15,000 Your
assets must be worth less than 300 and disposable income less than
50 p/m Cannot be a director of a limited company If you borrow 500
or more, the lender (person/company) must be aware you are subject
to a Debt Relief Order Cannot hold certain positions in the
community In the last 3 years you must have lived, had a property
or carried on a business in England or Wales 25. debt Dr Know your
rights In the short term its important you knowyour rights. It can
be easy to find yourself in a position where you are scared to
answer the phone in case its someone asking for money, or where you
feel sick when the post drops through the letterbox.There are
guidelines produced by the Office of Fair Trading and laws such as
the Consumer Credit Act 1974, the County Courts Act 1984 and the
Administration of Justice Act 1970 which are set up to provide you
as the consumer with protection. 26. debt Dr All of them are
relevant but the one that protects you most if you are being unduly
pressured by your creditors is the law that relates to harassment;
SECTION 40 OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ACT 1970 S40 Punishment
for the unlawful harassment of Debtors. (1) A person commits an
offence if, with the object of coercing another person to pay money
claimed from the other as a debt due under a contract he- 27. debt
Dr (a) Harasses the other with demands for payment which in respect
of their frequency of the manner or occasion of making any such
demand, or of any threat or publicly by which any demand is
accompanied, are calculated to subject him or members his family or
household to alarm, distress or humiliation; (b) falsely
represents, in relation to the money claimed, that criminal
proceedings lie for failing to pay it; (c) falsely represents
himself to be authorised in some official capacity to claim or
enforce payment; 28. debt Dr ( d) utters a document falsely
represented by him to have some official character or purporting to
have some official character which he knows it has not. (2) A
person may be guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a)
above if he consorts with others in taking such actions as is
described in that paragraph, not withstanding that his own course
of conduct does not by itself amount to harassment. 29. debt Dr
With the guidance outlined today you can begin to take
control.There is a solution to any debt problem and you can find a
way through. The most important thing to remember is that you do
not need to take out a secured loan to cover your unsecured debts,
there are other options. If you are struggling with your finances,
please seek professional help at the earliest opportunity from a
company providingalldebt solutions. 30. debt Dr Referral Scheme We
are happy to pay a commission rate of 10% of our net fee to anyone
who introduces a new client to us. All commissions are paid within
7 days of debtDr receiving full fees from the client. Total
discretion is assured. 31. debt D r
