subject: Debt Relief Options – What To Do If You Cannot Afford To Repay Your Debts? [print this page] If you are struggling with unmanageable debt that you can't afford to repay, you may be wondering what sort of help is actually available.
Well, you'll be glad to know that there is plenty of help available - here are a couple of things you could do to improve your situation.
Seek debt advice
When I was struggling with unmanageable debt (about six years ago), I decided that the first thing I should do was to seek professional debt advice - so I did.
I made a phone call to a company who offered debt advice for free, and spoke to an adviser about my situation. They told me that my situation would require more help than I originally anticipated, due to the severity of my debts.
Basically, that meant that I couldn't just solve my problems by adjusting my budget I needed more help.
The debt adviser spoke to me about debt solutions, including IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) - which is what I entered to clear my debts.
Of course, your situation will be different to mine, but you may still need to enter a debt solution to clear your debts.
Enter a specific debt solution
Other than an IVA, the debt solutions that deal with 'more serious' debts are debt management plans, bankruptcy, DROs (Debt Relief Orders) and Trust Deeds (similar to an IVA, but only available to residents of Scotland).
Feel free to research these (and IVAs) yourself, but it is important that you consult a professional debt adviser before you commit to anything. Entering a debt solution is a very big commitment, and it took a lot of will power when I did it, and it'll come with drawbacks as well as benefits - your credit rating would be damaged, for example.
But if you're in trouble you've just got to get on with it really, after all, it is designed to help you become debt free!
Debt Relief Options What To Do If You Cannot Afford To Repay Your Debts?
