5 Reasons You Should Come To Us for Debt Advice
Burnley and Pendle Citizens Advice is a free, confidential, impartial and independent service offering debt advice that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We look at your full financial circumstances and offer advice that meets your specific needs.
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Here are 5 reasons you should come to us when you need help managing debt:
1. Get Extra Time and Lift the Pressure
At the start of May, the government introduced new regulations known as Breathing Space. If you secure a Breathing Space moratorium, interest, charges and enforcement action will be frozen for up to 60 days. Breathing Space gives you time to manage your debt problem, but you can only get it if you are receiving regulated debt advice, such as from Burnley and Pendle Citizens Advice. Breathing Space is designed to temporarily relieve the stress and pressure of dealing with debt. Most debts can be covered by Breathing Space, including council tax arrears, credit cards bills, utility bills and rent arrears. If you speak to one of our debt advisers, they can tell you which of your debts can and can’t be included.
2. Prevent and Relieve Emergencies
There are some debts that we call priority debts. These are ones where you are at risk of losing something essential if you fall behind on making payments, such as your home, your energy or your liberty. Our debt advisers can recognise when there is an emergency and are able to help prevent matters from escalating. Remember, it’s always best to act quickly. The earlier you get debt advice, the more likely it is we can stop the situation from getting worse.
3. Avoid Online Companies Selling a Product
A quick internet search for “debt advice” returns plenty of companies using misleading names that closely resemble government agencies or well-known debt charities. Often they are selling a debt solution called an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA). While IVAs can be a good solution in the right circumstances, if you agree to one and the repayments are too high, you could end up in a worse position than you were in before. It is important to get independent advice that will tell you the advantages and disadvantages of every option, not just the advantages of the one that will make your debt adviser the most money. By coming to Burnley and Pendle Citizens Advice, you know any advice you receive is independent, impartial and fully regulated by the FCA.
4. Get Support Through the Process
Dealing with debt can seem like a huge amount of work, stress and pressure. Often you won’t know where to start or what to do next. Having someone experienced by your side can make a world of difference in helping you on your journey to manage your debts or even become debt-free, and our debt advisers will help you at each stage in the process.
5. Advice on other issues
While our debt advisers will focus on resolving your debt issues, they will also take a look at your full circumstances and identify other problems our service can help you with. This might mean offering a full benefit check and helping you apply for any state benefits you should be receiving. It could mean referring you for advice on dealing with a landlord who is threatening to evict you. Whatever you are going through, we have the experience and knowledge to help you get the support you need.
How do I get debt advice?
Call 01282 616 750 and choose option 1. This will put you through to our debt team who will get in touch to book you an appointment with a specialist debt adviser.
Disclaimer: This information was correct at time of publishing on 25 May 2021 and is provided as a guide only. It is not a recommendation to take a specific action and we suggest you speak to an adviser if you have any doubt about how the law applies to you.
