Where to go for Debt Advice

Personal debt is a growing problem in the developed nations. It seems that years of living on credit, or ‘buying now and paying later,’ and lending then spending is finally beginning to catch up. If you’re in debt, you are by no means alone.

But where can you go for free, confidential debt advice?

Of course, you can always ask people you know who have experienced similar difficulties for advice. But unless they are trained professional with experience of assisting others in debt, you cannot really guarantee that the advice is up to date and even accurate. New debt solutions are coming available all the time. There are now more alternatives to bankruptcy than there was even a year ago, since the introduction of the Debt Relief Order in April 2009.

So really, when it comes to getting up to date debt advice, the key thing is to speak to professionals. There are a couple of options readily available.

First of all, the Citizen’s Advice Bureau offers free debt advice over the phone and face to face. Specialists will be able to advise you of your legal options according to your own set of circumstances. The problem with this, of course, is that there is currently a particularly high demand for the service and so getting a face to face appointment can be difficult. There are also, however, a number of private debt companies who will offer free advice. Of course, the private companies eventually hope that you take out some form of debt solution with them. As they do have motives, it might be a good idea, if seeking advice from such companies, to do so from several to get an overview of all the options.

And of course, the Internet! The Internet has given us a wealth of resources at our fingertips and financial information is readily available. Be careful where you take such advice from though. To ensure that the advice is accurate and up to date, stick with the official government websites!