Legal advice about debts

We can help you with most common legal processes you’re likely to encounter when you’re dealing with debt, such as if a creditor applies for a court judgment or a decree.

However for some legal issues you may need help from another agency.

For example, as a specialist debt advice charity we give some advice on housing matters. We can give you advice on dealing with rent or mortgage arrears, including court action taken to collect arrears. But there are many other housing issues where other charities, such as Shelter, are more experienced and better placed to give you expert help.

Other issues where you might need specialist legal advice include complex benefit, divorce, employment or immigration problems.

Need debt advice?

Who can help with other legal issues?

In many cases advice with legal issues can be provided by other free advice agencies or charities. We’ll always point you in the direction of free help where it’s available.

However some issues might need legal advice from a solicitor, for example if you need someone to represent you in a court case or help you make a court claim against someone else.

What is legal aid?

Help with the costs of legal advice is called ‘legal aid’ and is available to people on a low income for some types of legal advice. Legal aid is no longer available for a lot of debt, housing, and employment or benefit cases.

This means if you have a very complex case that needs a solicitor’s involvement, you may have to pay for it. In practice very few people we speak to need this type of help. The majority of legal issues that you might face when you’re in debt can be dealt with by us, or our colleagues in other free debt advice organisations.

If you think you might need legal advice about your debts, contact us.