Antecedentes Nacionales

A key part of taking control over your finances is to start dealing with any debts that you might have. You may find you have a large number of debts because your partner forced you to take out loans or because you had to borrow to buy essential household items if your partner refused to give you the money for them.

Get support to deal with debts

Dealing with debts may seem a difficult and distressing task. However, even the most difficult situations can be resolved with support. It is important that you get advice about any debts as soon as possible.

Debt advice agencies will give you confidential advice and will not make any negative judgements about the reasons you are in debt. They are very skilled at supporting people with debt problems and will negotiate for you with your creditors if you wish them to do so. See the information about advice agencies at the end of the guide for where to get help.

Your responsibility for debts

Your advisor will help you get a clear picture of the debts that you owe. In particular it is important that you understand that you are responsible (joint and severally liable) for any debts that are in your name and for any debts that are in the name of both you and your partner. This means your creditor can pursue both you and your partner for repayment. If your partner has disappeared, you may find yourself wholly liable for repayment. This will probably seem unfair to you, but unfortunately it is the law.

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Priority debts

You advisor will help you identify which of your debts are a priority. They will emphasise that it is important that you tell them about all your debts. If you have rent arrears, it will be essential for you to speak to your landlord, as not making an effort to deal with existing rent arrears can cause problems getting another tenancy later on.

Dealing with your creditors

Keeping in contact with your creditors is very important and this is something that your debt advisor can help you with. Your creditors would rather discuss with you the possibility of you making reasonable payments on your debts over a period of time, than get no payment at all, or take expensive legal action against you. If they were to take you to court, it will count in your favour that you have made a reasonable effort to make payment.

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Remember:

You can check whether there are any debts that you may be responsible for without you knowing about them by running a credit check – see back of the guide for more details. You can also consider registering with the CIFAS protection registration scheme. Registration on this scheme adds an additional layer of protection to your accounts - for instance if anyone was attempting to obtain a loan in your name you would be contacted by CIFAS and asked to verify the application. CIFAS are a commercial organisation and will charge a small fee for this service.

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Toni’s story

fights for no reason, though we always made up afterwards. I just thought everyone carried out on like this. Over time though it just seemed to get worse, his taunts left me feeling like I was nothing. He was never very good with money and wasn’t making a success of his business, he was a handyman and sometimes things were quiet. Gradually he wanted me to work more and more hours at my cleaning job, as well as doing everything else like looking after the kids and the house.

He began to drink more and more and this just made his business go downhill fast. It didn’t stop him going out though - he was taking cash from me almost every night to go to the pub. We would have massive arguments about this and sometimes I felt very threatened. I was left borrowing money from wherever I could get it, just to make ends meet.

A couple of years ago, he left for a few months. I never found out exactly where he went, I think it was to someone he’d been seeing in the next town. While he was away, I found out that he’d run up huge debts in both our names.

He came back a while later and for the kids sake I took him back in as they had missed their dad. One night we had a massive row about the debts. I had to run upstairs and lock myself in the bedroom, he tried to smash the door down - I really thought he was going to kill me.

The following day I took my kids and we went to the local council to get help. They found me temporary accommodation and a

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If you cannot repay your debts

If it is absolutely impossible for you to repay your debts and you see no prospect of that changing, you may have to consider other options: • Asking your creditors to write off your debts: some utility providers may have charitable trusts which will pay for your debt to be written off. Check out: www.charisgrants.com

• Seek bankruptcy: This is a court order you can apply for when in insoluble debt. If the court grants the order an official is appointed by the court to manage your financial affairs. There are advantages and disadvantages to going into bankruptcy. The process will cost you money and you may lose your home if you own it. In addition any luxury items you have may have will be couple of months later we were offered a place of our own. It wasn’t ideal but it felt safe.

I knew that I had to sort out my money situation and so I went to see the local Citizens Advice Bureau. They were really helpful. They spoke to my creditors, explained the situation and negotiated repayment plans. They also made sure that I was getting all the benefits I was due.

Even though I’m still paying off the debts, I’m in control of what money is going in and coming out and I’ve got more hope for the future. I’m doing some voluntary work at a local children’s project and I hope soon to do a childcare qualification. In the long term, I’d like to think about buying my own place, or maybe getting on a shared ownership scheme.

sold. However, bankruptcy does allow you to make a fresh start. Bankruptcy may or may not be the best route forward for you. More information can be obtained from www.adviceguide.org.uk or the Insolvency Service (see back of the guide for more information).

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Whichever of these paths you follow, you should get professional support at every stage