*As always, just tap here if you'd like to speak with someone from our Money Advice Team for more personalised support. We're here if you need us.
List what money is coming in and going out. You'll be able to work out how much money you have for bills, debts and any money left over to save.
For more information on managing your money, creating a budget, or opening a bank account, tap here.
Our Money Advice Team offer one to one support on all kinds of money matters, including preventing and dealing with debts.
Check your bank and credit card statements on a regular basis to see where you money is being spent.
If you don’t keep track of spending, this can start to spiral out of control.
Make sure that you shop around to get the best deal on all your bills, especially insurance and utility bills.
We can help you look for better deals on energy. Just get in touch.
When dealing with debt, make sure that priority bills are paid first.
Priority bills are bills or debts that can have serious consequences for you and your family if they are not paid.
Once you know how you're spending on regular bills, food, and other costs, set yourself a weekly or monthly budget for how much you spend.
If something isn't in your budget, ask yourself whether you really need to buy it.
You can use an independent, free and anonymous benefits calculator to check what you could be entitled to. Just tap here for more information about online benefits calculators on the gov.uk website.
Our Money Advice Team can also complete a quick benefits calculation over the phone. For more information and contact details for our Money Advice Team, tap here.
Look to put away regular savings into an account. Even if it’s just a couple of pounds per week, it'll soon mount up.
We'd recommend a savings account with Hoot Credit Union if you're eligible. You can tap here for more information about saving with Hoot Credit Union on their website.
While unsecured credit lenders like payday lenders may shout the loudest, rent, utility bills, and Council Tax should be paid first. These ensure you continue to have a home and heating.
If you're having problems paying your priority bills or debts, please remember that our Money Advice Team can provide expert advice, guidance, and reassurance. For more information and contact details for our Money Advice Team, tap here.
You should always pay your priority bills/debts first, as not paying them can lead to serious consequences for you and your family. Your priority bills/debts are:
The consequences of non-payment for non-priority bills/debts are less severe than priority bills/debts. Your non-priority bills/debts are:
Before you do anything, make sure that you have your budget sheet ready as this needs to be sent to your creditors when discussing any debts:
For more information on how to budget and manage your money, tap here.
Use this letter to make an initial offer of payment to your creditors based on your available income:
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Use this letter when a creditor refuses to freeze the interest or additional charges on your account:
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Use this letter when a creditor has refused your initial offer of payment:
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Use this letter if your situation has not improved to ask your creditors to keep accepting your current payment offer:
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Use this letter to ask your creditors if they would consider writing off your debt:
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As always - if you'd like some help or have any further queries or questions, please get in touch with our Money Advice Team.
The rules around bailiff powers are complex and it’s vital you know what bailiffs can and can't do so you aren’t treated unfairly or unlawfully.
Please contact our Money Advice Team on 01204 328000 or tap here to visit the Citizens Advice website for more help and support on dealing with bailiffs.
You may still have time to deal with your debts before the bailiff comes to your house, as long as you act quickly.
Our Money Advice Team can help you to understand your rights, fees, and how to deal with debts. Just contact us for assistance.
We've helped lots of customers to deal with bailiff issues. If you're struggling to pay or are worried, please contact us.
You can tell the bailiff and the creditor if you're taking advice, and ask for breathing space to get advice.
It's worth letting them know, even though they don't have to agree to give you more time.
It's important to know what the bailiffs you're dealing with are allowed to do, and we can help to explain this for you.
Just get in touch if you need support.
If they haven't been inside your home before, most bailiffs — including those enforcing Council Tax — can only get in if you let them in.
If a bailiff is able to enter your home through an open door or window, this is viewed as you letting them in. Make sure you keep doors and windows shut and locked at all times.
You don't need to talk to the bailiff. Close your curtains, don't open the door, and instruct family members not to open the door to anyone they don't know.
Please get in touch if you need any support or guidance from our Money Advice Team.
You can't be arrested for refusing entry to a bailiff if they've not already been in and made a list of goods.
Some bailiffs (such as those collecting unpaid fines issued by magistrates' courts or the Crown Court or for Income Tax, VAT, or National Insurance) may be allowed to force their way into your home, although they will hardly ever do this.
The bailiffs might charge you fees for coming to your property and your debt could just get bigger if you ignore the fees.
If you let the bailiff in, or if they gain access to your goods, they can charge fees (and additional fees if they remove items).
Loan sharks will often target low income and desperate families. They may seem friendly at first, but borrowing from them is never a good idea because they lend money illegally and can ruin lives.
Loan sharks don't just affect you; they affect families, children, and communities.
Most people don't report loan sharks due to fear. Loan sharks will say and do anything to keep you under their control, however, once you report them, you'll get one-to-one dedicated help and support.
This document looks at breaking down the barriers and hopefully will provide reassurance if you do want to report a loan shark. You can also tap the tabs below for more information on how to spot and report loan sharks.
Offer little or no paperwork, such as a licence, credit agreement, or a record of payments.
Won't provide you with receipts or proof of payments.
Increase the debt or add additional amounts to it without your permission.
Refuse to give information, such as the interest rate or how much you still owe.
Won't allow you to settle your debt.
They may resort to intimidation, threats, or violence.
Are often involved in petty or organised crime.
May involve you and your family in petty crime, for example:
The England Illegal Money Lending Team has a hotline that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year:
You can also tap here to get more information on reporting loan sharks on the gov.uk website.
If a lender is not listed as having a current licence:
You can tap here to check whether a lender is legitimate on the Financial Conduct Authority Website.
Some loan sharks will threaten you by saying you'll be prosecuted and even sent to prison if you don’t pay up. This can’t happen. An unlicensed lender has no legal right to recover the debt because the loan is illegal.
Please remember: if you've borrowed money from a loan shark, you've done nothing wrong. They are breaking the law, not you.