Debt Archives

Getting out of debt

Practical articles about the different debt options, which might work for you and different ways of dealing with creditors

Which debt should I clear first?

If you are determined to pay off your debts, then you may have heard of "snowballing" - it's the approach where you pay the minimum to all of your debts except one, which you overpay by as much as possible each month. (If you can't afford to pay the minimums to your debts, snowballing isn't for you - look at A simple roadmap of debt solutions to see what your options are.) But which debt should … [Read more...]

Is it better to consolidate debt or snowball it?

A reader asked about the best way to clear debt: "I owe about 12k and my partner a bit more. We are well paid but we can't rely on the bonuses and we want to get a house as soon as possible. What do you suggest? Preferably easy as we both work long hours - please don't tell me to take sandwiches to work!" First well done on taking the decision to do something about your debts. It's pretty easy … [Read more...]

Must I tell Official Receiver what I spent money on

A reader asked if he has to give the Official Receiver details of his expenditure. If the expenditure is before he went bankrupt, the answer is "Yes, definitely - but this probably won't be in a huge amount of detail". But if he is worried about whether he has to report to the Official Receiver about his spending while he is bankrupt, the answer is "No, not normally". Expenditure before you … [Read more...]

One of the early payday loan affordability complaints in 2015

This is the story of one of the very early payday loan affordability complaints, made in September 2015. Since then there have been literally tens of thousands of affordability complaints made. All the UK payday lenders have been receiving them. four years later, in October 2019, the cost of paying refunds on these affordability complaints had forced the "Big Three" lenders tp go out of … [Read more...]

Telling my partner about my payday loans

A reader left a couple of long comments on the main Payday Loans - How to ask for a refund page. Many people may be interested in what she wrote, so I've put them together into this article. Here is TL's story: After having seen the Debt Camel article I gained the confidence to look into the case I have for a refund. Going through four years of bank statements I realised that I had … [Read more...]

Unknown debts on your credit file

A reader asked: I have recently signed up to Experian and Equifax. Experian's is what I was expecting to see but Equifax's has debts that I have no recollection of. I have taken this up with Equifax and all but two of the companies have responded by saying that the debt stands, please get in touch to discuss. Equifax say that they can’t remove anything from my report unless these companies give … [Read more...]

Can I add a debt to my IVA?

An IVA is binding on all the creditors for the debts included in the IVA - but what happens if a debt is accidentally forgotten at the time, or only later emerges? If this has happened to you, you are going to need to talk to your IVA firm about your situation because IVAs can be very "individual", but this article looks at what commonly can be done. First I'll look at the usual case where a … [Read more...]

Bankruptcy, IVA, DRO & your credit rating

If your debts are so bad that you are going to have to choose one of the three types of insolvency, you know this will wreck your credit rating, but how long will this continue? This article answers this and other you may have about the effect of insolvency on your credit record such as Will you ever be able to get credit again? What about a mortgage? Is bankruptcy worse than an IVA or a DRO for … [Read more...]

Frugal Finances or Increasing Income?

If you have a pile of debt you need to clear, is it better to increase your income or cut your expenses? Obviously either can be a big help, which is why they are both included in Debt Camel's Toolkit for Improving Your Finances. But I asked two of my favourite personal finance bloggers in Britain to write about which approach feels more important to them. Jane Clark is the blogger … [Read more...]

FAQs about how your DMP may affect your partner

Debt problems come in all shapes and sizes. So do personal relationships. And debt management plans (DMPs) are very flexible arrangements. The combination of all of these means there isn't a simple answer to the question about how your DMP will affect your partner, but here I look at the most common questions people have. Will my partner's income be taken into account? In debt management, you … [Read more...]