Insurance and legal

Personal debt (of which a substantial amount is credit card and unsecured loans) in the UK stood at a staggering £1,457 billion at the end of January 2010 and someone, somewhere, is declared bankrupt or insolvent every five minutes. These cold statistics dont come close to telling the full story or identifying the real casualties of debt.

All the latest research shows that being in debt can dramatically affect family life. On average, 78% of people surveyed about debt worries say that being in debt has affected relationships within their family and 75% say that being in debt has had a serious effect on their health. As many as 88% say that debt worries are keeping them awake at night. That situation is aggravated as the same surveys find that serious debt issues are typically ignored for as much as nine months before something happens which finally triggers action. The cause of these epiphanies can include divorce, the real threat of repossession or a visit from a bailiff, job loss or redundancy, or a serious health problem.

Because a lot of peoples experience of dealing with a serious debt problem is virtually non-existent, when they do decide to go for help, many simply dont know where to turn. Many look to the Citizens Advice Bureau, but this government funded and volunteer-staffed organisation is overloaded with work given the depth of the current credit crisis. Its advisers are dealing with more than 7,000 new debt problems each day. So, who can you turn to?

Families in debt desperately need timely, honest, straightforward advice. There are some shall we say less than reputable companies in market offering questionable advice with nothing but their own commercial gain uppermost in their minds. Guardian Financial Group and its sister company Credit issues have been in the vanguard of preaching and practicing the very highest professional standards – they are regulated by the Ministry of Justice and making use of their own highly qualified, in-house legal team to ensure success.

In most cases there are relatively straightforward solutions to serious debt problems. If the debt thats causing concern is on credit cards or unsecured loans that were taken out before 6th April 2007, it may even be possible to have the amount totally written off! Credit Issues recently challenged a clients credit card debt of over £16,000 due to some inaccuracies in the administration procedure of the lending institution. The debt had been sold off to a debt recovery agency when the client fell behind with his payments. A certain about of his debt was found to be covered by professional indemnity insurance also. After examining the agreement Credit Issues was successful in removing the clients liability to the debt and managed to clear the entire balance.50. In the first three months of 2009, Credit Issues has contested well over a £1 million of consumer debt and is experiencing unparalleled demand for its full on-site specialist legal team.

Other possible solutions may be as simple as writing to your creditors, using debt management or IVAs, consolidating the debt or even bankruptcy. There is always an answer that can return family life back to normal. Putting unsecured debts into a debt management programme can free up more income and allow you start regaining control of your debts. The increasingly popular IVA route will leave you debt free’ after 60 months and a similar solution, called a Protected Trust Deed, is available in Scotland. If you run a small business that has been struggling and found itself in serious debt, your business insurance company may be able to help out with this.

You just need to know which is the best solution for you and be assured that the advice you are getting is correct, professional and effective. So dont ostrich yourself and choose to confront your debt worries sooner rather than later. With a comprehensive plan in place and the possibility that there could be light at the end of the tunnel youll be able to get back to normal family life, free from worry and stress.