With the UK’s total stock of personal debt reaching £1.3 trillion this month, it is little wonder that some are finding their own personal debt a difficult book to balance.

The Financial Services Association has stated that average debt levels are at an all-time high of nearly 140% of income, twice the level it reached in the 1980’s. With a reported £1m being added every 4 minutes, it doesn’t look like its going to slow down any time soon.

If you are unfortunate to find your outgoings far outweighing your incomings, facing your own personal debt crisis can feel like the end of the world. With money tight, making ends meet can seem hard enough without having to juggle your finances and choosing the right option to help can seem like a minefield.

IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) companies seem to be advertising everywhere offering to cut your debt by anything up to 90%. Whilst the OFT have waded in to curtail some of these ads for ‘over-promising’, there are debt solutions available which could mean large amounts of your debts can be written-off giving you the breathing space you need to regain financial control – bare in mind that any agreement to reduce your debt in this way should not be entered into lightly and all other solutions such as consolidating your debts should be given equal consideration.

Now whilst I’ll claim to be a bit of a Loans expert, debt advice is something I am still on the learning curve with. As a result, we asked well-known debt expert Nick Lord (of Radio Four MoneyBox fame!) to write an exclusive guide for Moneysupermarket visitors. In this guide, Nick examines in detail the options available to help you get your debts under control - from the simple option of getting a part-time job and increasing your income through to the more serious option of applying for an IVA. The guide looks at the pros and cons of each solution and let’s the reader decide which one best suits their current circumstances.

Links:
 

Debt solutions Guide

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