If you’re having major money worries, the last thing you might want to do is talk to a complete stranger about them. But it can be the best thing you can do.
Where to find free, confidential advice
Use our Debt advice locator tool
You don’t need to struggle on alone with your debt worries.
It’s always best to talk things through with an experienced debt adviser before you make a decision about what to do.
There are many ways to clear your debts and some are more well known than others.
The one that is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances.
A free debt adviser can help you make the right decisions so that most of your money will go to paying off your debts.
Meaning you could be debt free sooner than you thought.
“We were so ashamed of our debt problems that we avoided telling people. Trying to live life normally and pretend that everything was ok was very difficult.”
Hayley – who runs the Disease Called Debt website and cleared debts of £41,000.
A debt adviser will:
- treat everything you say in confidence
- give advice about better ways of managing your money
- never judge you or make you feel bad about your situation
- suggest ways of dealing with debts that you might not know about
- always be happy to talk to you, however small or big your problem is
- check you have applied for all the benefits and entitlements available to you.
Use our Debt Health Check tool to help you work out the best way to tackle your financial issues.
You might only need to have one conversation with an experienced debt adviser to make sure that your plan to manage or clear your debts is the right one for you.
If you need more support or don’t know where to start, you’re not alone.
Nearly half of people in debt told us they aren’t sure about the best way to pay off their debts, and that is where a debt adviser can really help you.
More than eight out of ten people who have got debt advice tell us they feel less stressed or anxious and more in control of their life again.
“Debt advice just changed the way I dealt with it. Getting rid of the shame. I am only sorry it took me so long.” A debt advice client.
The people that let debts build up before they seek advice often find:
- their cards are maxed out
- things have spiralled out of control
- no one else will lend to them, and
- it takes much longer to pay back what they owe.
You can contact an adviser in a way that’s best for you – online, over the phone or face-to-face.
So join one of the hundreds of thousands of people we help each year and take the first step to being debt free.
This article is provided by the Money Advice Service.
