Welcome to Debt and You

Help dealing with debt

Debt is a fact of life for most people these days. Whether you've taken out a loan or you're using credit and store cards to buy things, each is a debt until it's paid off. This shouldn't be a problem as long as you continue to meet the monthly payments. However, if you're missing payments because of a change in circumstances or you've taken on more credit than you can afford it's vital to get advice on how to deal with your debts before they get any worse.

Advice on how to help yourself

This website is designed to provide practical advice to help you work out whether you have a debt problem, and what steps you need to take to deal with it.

Use our guide to assess your situation, compile a realistic repayment proposal and offer a reduced payment plan to your lenders. You'll find downloadable templates in the taking stock of your situation section to help you draw up an income and expenditure plan and sample letter forms in the dealing with your lenders section to help you.

Advice on professional debt help

However, if you don't feel able to deal with your lenders yourself or you feel that your situation is more than just a temporary setback, the section on regaining control of your finances explains some of the different types of professional debt help available.

Because there are so many different organisations offering debt help it's important to understand exactly what you're getting and what, if any, cost is involved. Our guide is intended as reference only and it's important to get expert advice if you're unsure about which route to take.

Download the Insolvency Service document "In Debt? Dealing with your creditors" here.