Our Blog

Welcome to our blog. We'll be posting news and views frequently and invite member contributions as well.

What is an IVA?

Topic: IVA | Posted: 4 years 5 days
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement or an IVA as it is better known, is a debt solution mandated by law and which will allow you to deal with your creditors and debts so they can be written off and repaid without the need for a messy bankruptcy. Firstly, who are they most suitable for?

Don’t Leave Calling for Debt Advice Until the Last Moment

Topic: Money Saving Tips | Posted: 4 years 5 days
The news is doom and gloom with county courts issuing more repossession orders for homes with delinquent mortgages and spiraling arrears, record numbers of bankruptcies and insolvencies and soaring unemployment levels while home prices are at rock-bottom leaving many with negative or low equity and unable to refinance.

Who Do You Turn To For Debt Advice?

Topic: Misc. Debt | Posted: 4 years 1 week
If you are asking yourself this question then good for you! The first step in dealing with your debt is to recognise you need help and advice so while your situation may be causing you a great deal of personal worry and stress, you are on the road to finally being free of your financial problems.

What Do I Need to Do to Set Up An IVA?

Topic: IVA | Posted: 4 years 1 week
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement or IVA is an arrangement which is laid down by law to help you free yourself from the burden of debt without declaring bankruptcy and so losing your property and assets.

Is Bankruptcy the Only Option?

Topic: Bankruptcy | Posted: 4 years 1 week
No! Bankruptcy is an option of last resort but before you get to this point there are plenty of excellent ways in which you can avoid declaring yourself bankrupt.

Why Your Creditors Revise Payment Terms On Your Debt

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 1 week
Many people are unable to deal with the scale of the debt they have accumulated; debt can be very insidious in how it grows not only with day-to-day use of a credit card or overdraft facility, but the hikes in interest rates, additional fees and charges and the affect can be adversely multiplied if you fall behind with payments – a returned cheque or direct debit for a few pounds can incu

Advice from the Insolvency Service

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 2 weeks
Insolvency and bankruptcy are words which many people are frightened of; they see bankruptcy as a shameful thing to happen and so deny themselves the relief from unrealistic debt levels and repayments which the law provides for and many options exist before bankruptcy should be considered. Here is what the Insolvency Service has to say, taken from their own website:

Credit Card Control: An American Perspective

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 2 weeks
America is run on credit and with an $800 billion stimulus package being implemented; President Obama’s administration is also taking action to make sure the fix has a degree of permanence attached to it.  It has been a bad week in many respects for the US economy with the announcement of one of America’s largest car makers, Chrysler, filing for bankruptcy and the announcement

Is Bankruptcy Really As Bad As It Sounds?

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 2 weeks
The word “bankruptcy” strikes fear into the hearts and minds of many people, particularly the older generations for whom it was very closely associated with personal failure, shame and the very real loss of all of your assets including your home and even your car.

Know the Symptoms of Financial Stress

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 2 weeks
Britain is hurting and there is no denying it; if you can’t see all the green shoots of recovery many pundits are talking about it is probably for a simple reason – they are not there!

Bankruptcies Soar and Half are Homeowners

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 2 weeks
Latest figures released by the Insolvency Service show bankruptcies are soaring with an increase of 19% compared to the same period last year; most of the increase has been created by homeowners prompting calls for longer term loans to reduce payments.

Insolvency service reports big rise in bankruptcies

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 3 weeks
In the first quarter of 2009, 29,774 people have become bankrupt or taken out an IVA. This is a 23% increase in bankruptcy and nearly a 12 % increase in IVA's.

30 days grace from the debt collectors announced

Topic: Debt Collectors | Posted: 4 years 3 weeks
A recent announcement by the government and the Credit Services Association is going to provide valuable breathing space to anyone facing the threat of debt collectors turning up on their doorstep.

Debt Management vs the IVA

Topic: Misc. Debt | Posted: 4 years 13 weeks
If you can or want to avoid bankruptcy, debt management or an IVA are normally the two solutions a debt advisor will consider for you. They both offer very different things but share a common objective. They both aim to make you debt free and your monthly repayments manageable. The key areas of distinction are: Only one is legally binding

Unique insight into emotional impact of personal debt in the UK

Topic: Debt News | Posted: 4 years 16 weeks
We're really pleased to announce the latest results of our research into the emotional impact of debt in the UK. It gives you chance to see how you compare and comment on what you think of our findings. Research findings are as follows:

Take on Debt You Can Handle

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 17 weeks
Do you know why you’re in debt? A recent survey here at Talk About Debt reveals that the majority of people (55%) are in debt because they took on more debt than they could handle. That’s not a hard problem to fix. While you can’t go back and change the way you did things the first time around, you could end up in debt again after you’ve worked hard to pay your way out.

Paying Off Debt on Your Own

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 19 weeks
There are a few ways you can get help with your debt – a debt management plan, an IVA, or bankruptcy. However, all of those options come at some cost.

A New Year, A New Way to Think About Debt

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 20 weeks
I’m on the fence about New Year’s Resolutions. A lot of people make vague and lofty resolutions, and then forget about them by the end of January after seeing little or no progress made. If people made better resolutions, they’d be better able to keep them. Consider this New Year’s Resolution: I want to pay off debt.

The Anatomy of a Self-Destructive Attitude Towards Money

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 20 weeks
For the most part, debt isn’t something that just happens by mistake. There’s something you did or didn’t do that brought on the debt. If you want to get out of debt and stay out, you have to take a look at what caused you to get into debt in the first place.

Is Debt Making You Depressed?

Topic: Friends, Family, Loved Ones | Posted: 4 years 22 weeks
You’d be remiss to think that dealing with overwhelming debt didn’t have an emotional impact on your life. People have been known to commit suicide because they didn’t see a way out of their currently debt-filled life.

A Crunched Christmas Gift Ideas: Create Your Own Experience

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 23 weeks
Companies like Red Letter Days and Virgin's Experience Days have become increasingly popular as gifts. If you're unfamiliar, these companies basically offer experiences – such as driving a rally car or a wine tasting afternoon – all wrapped into one neat, gift-sized bundle.

A Crunched Christmas: Buying Gifts

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 23 weeks
A recent study by Halifax revealed that the average shopper spends £384 on gifts – and gifts alone – at Christmas, a figure which is nothing short of astonishing. Now with the economic crisis upon us, it's more important than ever to try and slash that figure – while still giving good quality gifts that will be treasured for years to come.

The Best Tool for Paying Off Debt

Topic: Money Management | Posted: 4 years 23 weeks
If you think back to how you got into debt and why you can’t seem to get out of it, I bet both answers stem from the absence of one thing – a budget. A lot of people hate the word “budget” so I’m going to try to use it a lot to get you comfortable with the thought of having one.

If you can’t avoid bankruptcy what do you need to know?

Topic: Bankruptcy | Posted: 4 years 23 weeks
You’ve reviewed your options and taken advice from experts. An IVA is not an option for you or you are unable to agree informal terms with your creditors for a debt management plan.

Bankruptcy - Explained in full in English

Topic: Bankruptcy | Posted: 4 years 23 weeks
Bankruptcies are rising fast and a lot of the visitors that come to this site are looking for answers to fill what the gap that currently exists between the demand for information and the level of straightforward useful information on bankruptcy freely available.