How Does Debt Consolidation Work – What Happens When You Consolidate Your Debts

Debt Consolidation is often the first thing that people consider when they experience debt problems. Consolidating debts as it is understood in the UK is basically the process of taking out one large loan to pay off all your other debts, leaving you with only one payment to think about, which is usually a smaller amount that your combined debts were. Debt consolidation is also frequently used in the US in particular to refer to the use of debt management plans. This article is about consolidation loans and debt management will be dealt with in separate posts.

Bear in mind that when you are in debt and you can’t afford to pay back money that you have borrowed or goods you have bought on credit, it is not necessarily the most sensible thing in the world to be thinking about borrowing even more money. If borrowing or spending more than you have is what got you into debt in the first place, it is frankly unlikely that doing more of the same will get you out of it.

There are circumstances in which a debt consolidation loan may improve your situation, but these are far less common than most people suppose. The danger is that people are attracted by the simplicity of a single payment, and the lower monthly payment. It is important to look beyond that to the total amount you will be paying back, compared to your existing debts. The reason the monthly payment is less is usually because the new loan is spread over a much longer period. When you add up how much you are paying back in total over the longer period, you will often find that the consolidation loan is actually costing you far more than your old debts.

The circumstances in which a debt consolidation loan might be a useful thing to do are if your old debts are at a particularly high rate of interest and the interest rates on the new loan will be much lower. If you do take out a new consolidation loan, don’t be tempted to automatically cover all your debts with it. You should list all your debts in order of the rate of interest you are paying on them, and only use the loan to cover the ones that are at a higher rate than you will be paying for the consolidation loan.

Just as there are certain circumstances when a consolidation loan may be useful there are also circumstances when alarm bells should ring and you should avoid them. The times when you should definitely avoid taking out a debt consolidation loan are if you have taken one out previously and it has not solved your problems, or if you plan to use it to pay off credit card debts so that you can carry on using the cards again. In these circumstances the debt consolidation loan is almost certain to simply add to your problems.

The only truly effective way to deal with debt problems is to negotiate with your creditors to agree repayment terms that you can afford. Help and advice with this is available, but not from companies with an interest in selling you a consolidation loan or other commercial debt solution.

Find out about recommended Debt Consolidation companies here.

Hardship Letter To Creditors – All You Need To Know About letters To Write To Creditors

Everyone is in debt to a certain extent, but problems arise when the amount of money you owe is more than you can pay back out of your regular income. When debts begin to mount up and get out of control, it is easy to panic and think about borrowing more money or taking on additional credit in order to deal with the immediate problem of creditors demanding their money. This is rarely the best option, and your first action should be to discuss your situation with your creditors.

The long term solution to all debt problems is to negotiate with your creditors to reach agreements for paying back what you owe (or perhaps only a proportion of it) at a rate that you can actually afford. The first step in this process is to write to your creditors to explain your situation and why you are not able to pay them what you owe right now. Millions of people are in debt and there are all sorts of reasons for this. It is nothing to be ashamed of, and it is far better to be open and honest with your creditors about the reasons for your situation. If they feel you are not being straight, they may assume you just don’t want to pay, and may not be inclined to want to reach an agreement with you. Whatever has happened in the past, and whatever tactics they have tried to get money out of you, all your dealings with your creditors now need to be rational, professional and honest.

This initial letter from you should explain your circumstances, detailing why you are now in a situation where you are unable to keep up with payments. Tell them that you seeking help to deal with the situation and that when you have made progress you will be writing to them again with a full financial statement and an offer of payment.

In this first letter you should also ask them to confirm the details of the debt, so that there is no misunderstanding about what you owe them. Ask for details of the amount you owe, any arrears, outstanding penalties or extra interest charges, whether the debt is secured or unsecured and whether there is any insurance policy attached to the debt.

Make sure you include all your creditors and check the replies you get to ensure that you agree with the information they provide about the debts. If there are additional penalties or extra interest for late payment, it is well worth contacting them to see if they will at least waive these charges and stop them building up while you try to negotiate a settlement.

The next stages in the negotiation process involve creating a Personal Financial Statement, prioritising your creditors and negotiating repayment terms. These will be dealt with in detail in separate articles.

Read a detailed step by step guide to getting out of debt on the Debt UK website.

Can A Creditor Sue Me For Unsecured Debt – Advice On Being Sued For Unsecured Debt

First of all we need to be clear about what is meant by unsecured debt. Most loans and debts will fall into one of two categories, secured or unsecured. A secured loan is secured against some asset you own, usually your home. What it means is that if you default on the loan, you can lose the asset. A mortgage is a loan secured against your house, and if you fail to keep up payments, your home can be sold to repay the debt. If you own your own home, It is generally much easier to get a secured loan, because the lender knows that even if you default on payment they can get their money back by selling your home. Loans can also be secured against other property, such as your car.

Unsecured loans or debts are basically every other type of loan or credit. Normal personal loans, credit card debts, bank overdrafts, catalogue debts, etc are all forms of unsecured debt. You will generally need to have a reasonable credit rating to get this kind of loan in the first place. This is because the lender does not have the valuable asset to fall back on, so they wants to be sure you have a good track record and the means to repay what you have borrowed.

Can A Creditor Sue Me For Unsecured Debt – The Likelihood of Legal Action

If you legitimately owe money to a company then the bottom line is that they are entitled to sue you to get it back. This would normally involve court action that could result in a court order against you ordering you to repay the money. The court would decide what you could afford and how much the repayments would need to be. Whether the company does decide to sue you is another matter, and will depend on many things. Legal advice and court action cost money, so it is unlikely that a company will want to spend a lot to recover a very small debt (though they will probably threaten it in an attempt to get you to pay up).

They will probably try to assess your situation and how likely and capable you are of repaying what you owe. If you have a steady job, own your own home and have lived in the same place for a while, they may well decide you should be able to pay and that it would be worth suing you. Alternatively, they may cut their losses and sell your debt to a collection agency for a small proportion of what you owe. Your debt will then be with the collection agency, who will do all they can to get the money from you, and may in turn take legal action themselves.

Can A Creditor Sue Me For Unsecured Debt – The Process of Being Sued

If you are about to be sued for an unsecured debt it is important to take proper legal advice. The processes of being sued for debt are very similar in the UK and the US. In the UK the creditor will make what is called a Money Only Claim through the county court. You will know this has happened if you receive notification from the court, and this will include a form which you must complete and return.

If the court finds in favour of the creditor, a County Court Judgement will be made against you. This is clearly not a good thing, but may not be as bad as you think. In practice what it means is that you will be ordered by the court to repay what you owe. The court ought to look at your circumstances in detail and come up with a repayment schedule that is based on what you can actually afford. The county court judgement will obviously show up on your credit record.

Can A Creditor Sue Me For Unsecured Debt – After Being Sued

If you are sued and a judgement is made against you, it is then particularly important to stick to the terms of what the court has ordered you to do. It really is vital that you do all you can to keep up with the repayment schedule that has been set, otherwise the possible penalties can go to a whole new level. If your circumstances change or you are not able to keep up with payments, you must tell the court straight away and see if the terms can be renegotiated. Never ignore the issue or just stop paying.

The possible consequences for not complying with the court order include having your assets taken by bailiffs or having money deducted directly from your wages (known as an Attachment of Earnings in the UK or Wage Garnishment in the US). Not complying with such an order could then lead to imprisonment.

Can A Creditor Sue Me For Unsecured Debt – Conclusions

Clearly it is preferable to take steps to deal with your debt before getting to the stage of being sued. The best starting point is always to speak to your creditors and make them aware of exactly why you are unable to keep up with repayments, and try to negotiate new terms for paying back the debt. It will never help to just stop paying and not communicate with them. Most debt problems can be dealt with in this way, and free help is available to guide you through that process.

Read more detailed advice on the author's Debt UK and US website here.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt – Follow This Guide & Find Out How To Get Rid Of Debt Permanently

We are all in debt to some extent, but problems arise when we are unable to keep up with repayments. This is an increasingly common situation but the good news is that however bad your debt crisis is you can almost certainly get rid of it yourself with a little advice and guidance.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Not By Borrowing Or Spending More Money

If you are experiencing debt problems and you surf the net to find help, you will be bombarded by websites offering to solve all your problems. Unfortunately the vast majority of the websites you will find are only offering solutions by commercial companies, designed to generate income for them. That is why the only solutions you will normally come across are consolidation loans, secured loans, Debt Management Plans and Individual Voluntary Arrangements. All of these will cost you money and make money for the organisations providing them.

If you think about it logically, how likely is it that the solution to owing too much money is going to be borrowing more money, or paying more money to someone for their services? It is far more likely that such action will either make your long term situation worse, or at least result in it taking longer than it should to get rid of your debt. If you are fortunate enough to find one of the few sources of unbiased debt help out there (advice from someone who isn’t trying to sell you something), you will see that the real solution to debt problems is always the same, and never involves borrowing or spending more money.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Follow These Simple Steps

Nothing is going to magically make your debts disappear. Bankruptcy may result in writing off some unpaid debts, but it is a drastic step to take, with all sorts of long term consequences. There is a fairly straightforward way of dealing with any debt crisis, which just requires some understanding of the steps to take and a little organisation on your part. Only by dealing with debt in this way will you actually take back control of your finances for yourself, and reduce the likelihood of such a situation recurring in the future.

The basic procedure is to make sure your creditors understand your situation, then take steps to reach agreements with them all to pay back only what you really can afford. The steps you go through in order to achieve this are set out below.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Contact Your Creditors

You can’t expect any sympathy or understanding from the people you owe money to unless they are aware of your situation. You must write to them all to explain your situation and assure them that you are trying to deal with it. Tell them exactly why you are in the situation you are in, which could be something specific such as redundancy to marriage breakdown, or just that you allowed your debts to build out of control. You should also ask each creditor to confirm all the details of exactly what you owe them, so that you have an accurate and up to date idea of each debt. Templates you can use to draft creditors letters are available online.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Prioritise Your Creditors

When you have a clear idea of each creditor and what money you owe, the next thing you need to do is to split your creditors into two groups. This exercise is about deciding which creditors are the most important ones to deal with. Each of your creditors must fall into one of two groups – Priority Creditors or Secondary Creditors.

Your priority creditors are the ones where there are potentially serious consequences if you do not repay them. Examples might include your mortgage or a loan secured on your home, unpaid income tax, child maintenance or council tax. These are all areas where non payment can result in actions such as losing your home, imprisonment or having your assets seized by bailiffs.

Your secondary creditors are basically everything else. Secondary debts might include unsecured loans, credit card debts, bank overdrafts or money owed to catalogues.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Create A Financial Statement

You are going to be trying to negotiate settlements with your creditors soon, and you will not be able to do this effectively unless you can show them clearly how much money you have and what you can afford to pay. You therefore need to create a Personal Financial Statement, which is basically just a detailed list showing all your income each month and all the things you have to pay out each month.

You can print off a Personal Financial Statement Form online to help make sure you don’t miss anything off. You will need to decide whether you break it down into weekly or monthly figures, but stick to either one of the other. At this stage you should only include your priority creditors on your financial statement, leaving off all your secondary debtors. Do remember to include any other essential living costs, however, such as vehicle or travel costs, insurances, etc.

Remember to be realistic and accurate with your figures, as all your creditors are going to be looking at and checking these. Your financial statement should show you what (if anything) you have left each month after paying your priority creditors. This is the amount you have to share among your secondary creditors.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt? Make Offers To Your Creditors

This is the all important stage that your other work has been leading up to. You now need to contact your creditors to make offers and negotiate repayments that are within your ability to pay. Contact your priority creditors first, to make an offer of payment towards any arrears you have accumulated. Do this by starting with the most serious debt first (serious in terms of the consequences of not paying, not how much you owe). Don’t offer all your spare income as you need to share it out. Include a copy of your financial statement with your letter. As you get agreement for each creditor, build that into your financial statement and keep updating it.

You then need to start negotiating with your secondary creditors. It is worth trying to see if they will write the debt off to start with, especially if your financial statement demonstrates that you have no spare income. Assuming you do have some spare income after dealing with your priority creditors, the fairest thing to do is to share it out proportionately between your secondary creditors. This means sharing out your money in proportion to the amount of money owed, rather than giving the same amount to everyone, irrespective of the size of the debt. Help is available online with how to work this out.

Bearing in mind that all your creditors will see your financial statement and therefore know what you are paying other people, this system of sharing it out is by far the easiest to defend and justify.

How Do I Get Rid Of Debt – Conclusions

That is basically it as far as the main approach to dealing with any debt is concerned. Clearly there is more detail around these various steps, but that is beyond the scope of this article, which is just intended to provide you with the main outline approach. I hope this helps to show that any debt can be tackled most effectively by dealing with it directly yourself, rather than perpetuating the cycle of debt by borrowing more money.

For a detailed step by step guide to getting rid of debt by negotiating with your creditors, visit the author's debt UKUS website.