Get out of debt

Roy Keane’s supposed philosophy in relation to football at least was neatly summarised in the catchy phrase: ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. People talk these days about what they call ‘unsustainable debt’ usually referring to the national debt of countries such as Ireland or Greece but sometimes in the context of personal debt. Continue reading

Debt Relief Order changes

Major changes have been announced in the Insolvency regime in England and Wales so as to make access to a Debt Relief Order much easier for people struggling with debt, particularly a certain category of insolvent debtors who were caught in a dilemma whereby they did not qualify for a Debt Relief Order and neither could they afford to pay the costs of bankruptcy. Hence the contradictory term: ‘too poor to go bankrupt’. Continue reading

Debt after Christmas

Even if we didn’t overspend at Christmas, it somehow feels as if we did. Spending just seems to expand so as to consume all available cash and then some. It doesn’t seem to matter if we are paid weekly or monthly, Christmas just seems to be like a good vacuum cleaner, sucking up every spare penny. Continue reading

Improve credit rating

Once you default on repayments of a loan, credit card or other form of debt, the chances are that your credit rating will be damaged. Even missing a single payment may cause an adverse record to be made that can make it more difficult for you to obtain credit in the future. Continue reading

Get debt help

Some years ago a famous advertisement proclaimed that ‘It’s good to talk’. When it comes to resolving debt problems the first option should always be to talk about it. Even when the problems seem intractable, you should at least try to talk to your lenders. It is particularly important that you seek debt help when you begin to miss payments or when you have made late payments or when you have begun to pay your creditors selectively over other creditors, say if certain creditors are putting you under pressure. This behaviour is unfair on the creditors who are treating you better i.e. not putting you under pressure nor sending debt collectors to your door, nor taking legal action against you. Continue reading

Help with Debt Problems

When things go wrong in life, one of the hardest things to do is to accept and acknowledge that it’s our own fault and that we are to blame. OK, sometimes it is somebody else’s fault. i.e. If a relationship breaks down, the other person may have been the biggest factor in the event. If you lose your job, it may be that your employer really was losing money or it may be that your function no longer existed in the organisation or that a restructuring was really necessary. If you fail your exams, it may be that the paper was unfair and that the questions weren’t really within the boundaries of the syllabus. And when personal debt problems emerge, it’s only natural that our first inclination is to assign blame to circumstances outside of our control and to blame any convenient third party for our predicament. Continue reading

Insolvency explained

If you are sick or injured, you don’t have to be a medical expert to know that you need to go to a doctor for treatment. You just instinctively know that you don’t feel well and that your GP will in all likelihood be able to help you. The process is simple: you go along to see your doctor. You describe your symptoms or condition, the doctor may ask you questions, may perhaps examine you, may initiate some tests, may offer you his or her diagnosis of your condition or injury, may prescribe medication or other treatment, may refer you to a specialist or a medical consultant or may send you to hospital. Continue reading

Can I Do an IVA with no money?

If you are insolvent and have no assets and/or no disposable income can you still do an IVA or to put the question a little differently, is there any chance that creditors will accept your proposal for an IVA if you have no money? Incredible as it may seem, the answer is yes, provided you can ‘bring something to the table’. First, let us look at the ‘normal’ scenario in which an insolvent debtor goes forward with an IVA. Continue reading