Can someone help me manage £15000 (approx) debt?
Try no to take out any more loans or credit cards, that really should be the last resort. Don’t bother with an IVA either there cons, you will pay more to the company then you will to your debt and you’ll spread the debt over another 5 years meaning for the next 12 years your credit will be completely trashed, 5 years to pay the IVA and then 7 years for it to disappear off your credit report. A waste of time and money. Though £15,000 sounds a lot of debt it is relatively low in the financial world. £15,000 at £400 a month without taking into account any interest or charges would take you just over 3 years to clear. Far better then the 5+ years for an IVA or repayment on a loan. You need to work out a budget, work out how much each month you can afford to pay out to these debts each month. Going off the figure of £400 every month for all 6 debts, you then need to look out how you want to split the money between them. Set them out in priority, priority goes to credit cards with the highe
The last thing you need when in debt is to borrow more money. Don’t even think about a consolidation loan – you will deepen your debt and take longer to get straight. You can tackle your debt problem yourself without borrowing or paying someone else for their services. If your income is less that your outgoings then you must reach agreements with your creditors. The process involves creating a financial statement to clearly demonstrate to creditors what you can and cannot afford, and negotiating new terms for repayment. There is a detailed step by step guide with template letters on the website below, but contact CAB if you need one to one help.
Don’t get a debt consolidation loan. You will just be going from the frying pan into the fire. Yes, the montly repayments will be lower but look at the interest!! Usually astronomical. The best advice I can give you is to speak to the bank. I know that in the current economic climate, people are painting the banks as monsters but if you are in trouble and you accept that you’ve made mistakes, 9 times out of 10, they will be sympathetic and try to help. Make an appointment today with your bank. You can also get an IVA. I’m not totally sure how they work, but they will inform your creditors of your situation and renegotiate the loans at a lower monthly payment and many creditors will suspend the interest. The National Debtline is a non-profit organisation, freephone 0808 8084000 and they can help. The best advice is to speak to your creditors. They are not mindreaders and if you don’t tell them you are having problems, they won’t know.
