What you can expect from us
As part of our debt advice service, we will:
- Help you make your personal budget
- Look at ways you may be able to increase your income, such as claiming benefits
- Discuss options for dealing with your finances, based on what is best for you
- Help you make an informed choice about what you should do
- Keep in touch with you every step of the way
- Let you know if there is a risk of a conflict of interest. While this is rare, an example of a conflict of information would be if the advisor knew you
- Treat everyone fairly, regardless of their race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or age
We may:
- Refer you to other specialist organisations if you need further support or guidance
- Contact the people you owe and share details about your finances. We will do this so we can ask them to:
- Agree to a new arrangement where you repay the money you owe at a rate you can afford
- Stop the interest and charges on your account
- Stop taking further action to collect the debt, such as court action or bailiffs
Read our privacy notice to find out how we handle your information.
What we expect from you
We need you to:
- Provide accurate information about your finances. We will need full details about your income, spending and debts, and any assets you may have
- Let us know of any changes that could impact your debts. Such as having children, losing your job, retiring or a relationship breakdown
- Agree you will not take out any further credit while we are helping you, without letting us know
- Agree you will not set up any separate agreements, for example for new repayment amounts, with any of your creditors
To give you the right advice, we need to know what you are dealing with. If you cannot provide or do what we need at any stage, we may not be able to carry on supporting you. If this happens, we may have to contact any creditors we have been dealing with on your behalf.