MNHQ here. Sign in for FREE debt advice from Stepchange debt charity

[AnnaCMumsnet]

Hello,

Mumsnet and StepChange Debt Charity are teaming up to provide a free online debt help clinic all week. They’ll be offering information and advice on all aspects of personal debt.

StepChange is the largest debt charity in the UK, and over the last 26 years they’ve helped well over 5 million people with debt. They recently reported that 2018 was their busiest year ever, with over 650,000 new clients contacting them for help, and they’re even busier so far this year.

And as part of their work for the National Numeracy campaign to highlight that a key to overcoming debt is putting together a sustainable budget, StepChange want to help Mumsnetters with anything they’re experiencing because of money worries. So if you’re getting letters from the bank, struggling to afford to pay a debt, or you’ve been threatened with court action, or anything else around debt, post up a question.

The clinic will take place on this thread from Monday 13th May, all week. If you’re dealing with debt, post an outline of your experience here. Please don’t include identifying details: a specialist debt advisor will follow up with you via PM if they need to know more.

Answers from the specialist debt advisor will be posted up on this thread. The clinic will run for a week; we’ll do our best to provide all answers during the week but, at the latest, by the end of the
following week. You can find information on where to go for more help once the clinic has ended here.

Unsure whether or not you need debt advice? Try the 60-second debt test on the StepChange website. By answering a few simple questions, you’ll quickly find out if you’d benefit from free and confidential debt advice.

Important: The advice provided to an individual poster is based only on the information provided by that poster. Advice on this thread is also particular to the individual who has asked for it and is likely to be specific to that person’s situation. A poster may have provided further relevant information by private message which will not appear on this thread.

Important: FCA regulations mean that StepChange is unable to give full debt advice or recommend any debt solutions through the Mumsnet forum. If they feel you’d help from getting a full debt advice session, they’ll mention that in the reply.

Additionally, StepChange can’t give advice on self-employed or business debts. For more help with these, you can talk to fellow charity Business Debtline.

Please feel free to post your questions for the advisor.

Thanks,

MNHQ

@pocketcucco

I have about £8000 in credit card debts after leaving a relationship and I'm struggling day to day as I am making such high payments I am left with very little and have had to take a second job to survive. I am now working 7 days a week and I'm exhausted and suffer with mental health problems already and they are rapidly getting worse.

Hi @pocketcucco,

Thank you for posting. It sounds like you would really benefit from some advice to help you deal with your debt and make sure your essential living costs are covered. Our advice is free, impartial and non-judgmental, so please don't worry about getting in touch.

You can get advice either online or over the phone, and we'll look at your situation as a whole to create a budget and recommend any debt solutions that are available to you. We'll also be able to give you the details of other charities or organisations that can help you with your mental health. You can find our contact details on our website: www.stepchange.org/Contactus.aspx

Best wishes,
Jonathan at StepChange Debt Charity

@ISeeDeadDandelions

I have just looked at the link for your budget planner, and it says you take details of the debt etc. Do I need to put any personal info in? I'm making at least minimum payments on my debt, but find it really hard to stick to a budget, so my debt is slowly increasing as I go along. I know I need to change my habits but it's so so hard and I'm scared of putting details in as I don't want anything to impact my credit...

Hi @ISeeDeadDandelions,

Our online debt help tool is completely confidential and using it to get debt advice won't mark your credit file. When you use the tool, we don't ask for personal information like your name or address. We ask for details of your debts to make sure we can see your situation as a whole and recommend all the solutions that are available to you. If you wanted to take up a debt solution with us, we'd need personal details to set this up. But all your financial information can be submitted in the tool without having to disclose personal information to us.

If you're making the minimum payments, they tend to only cover the interest and charges on the debt, or at most a very small amount of the balance. There's information on how to pay your debt off quicker on our site here: www.stepchange.org/debt-info/persistent-credit-card-debt.aspx

We also have tips on how to create and stick to a budget on our website too: www.stepchange.org/debt-info/your-financial-situation/making-a-budget.aspx And for National Numeracy Day on 15 May, we'll be going live on our Facebook page at 12.30pm to answer questions about budgeting and give our top tips.

Best wishes,
Jonathan at StepChange Debt Charity

Hi. I've just started to set up a DMP. I have sent the template letters to my creditors saying I'm seeking advice. Untill things are arranged between me and stepchange do I still make payments to my creditors? Really confused ?