National Debtline England & Wales

Money, Advice, Trust

Contacting National Debtline

• Call 0808 808 4000 Monday to Friday 9am-9pm and Saturday 9.30am-1pm
  Visit My Money Steps for personalised advice 24 hours a day or email us for advice
• Get a personalised action plan to deal with your debts

Debtline for other regions

• England and wales
• Scotland

Debt Advice | England & Wales

If you're looking for advice on a debt problem there are several ways you can obtain help and information.

PHONE US on Freephone 0808 808 4000

E-MAIL US

SEARCH our library of factsheets to find the information you need.

Visit our interactive online advice service My Money Steps for personalised advice 24 hours a day.

Phone us for advice 0808 808 4000

Section 1 | Self Help Pack

Download our self help pack that contains all the information and standard letters you need to deal with your own debt problem.

This pack shows you four simple steps to dealing with your debts.

• Step 1 Increase your income
• Step 2 Work out your personal budget sheet
• Step 3 Deal with your priority debts
• Step 4 Deal with your non-priority debts

Select the sections that are relevant to you:

Please select Contents Getting started Step 1 Increasing your income Step 2 Working out your personal budget Step 3 Dealing with your priority debts Step 4 Dealing with your non-priority debts Sample letters Useful contacts About National Debtline

The pack is designed to help you to deal with your debts in a step by step way.
You should check all the sections to make sure you have all the information you need.

Or you can download the pack in its entirety.
CAUTION: You should only download this pack if you have a fast internet connection (2.22 MB file).

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Section 2 | Fact sheets, guides & review packs

Search through our library -

I would like information on:

Please Select Administration Orders Attachment of Earnings in the County Court Bailiffs and Council Tax Bankruptcy Can I complain about my lender? CASHflow - an approved way to deal with debts yourself Catalogue debts Charging orders in the county court Credit Reference Agencies Dealing with a statutory demand Dealing with debts in the High Court Debt Management Plan (DMP) Debt relief orders (DRO) Full & Final Settlement Fixed-term student loans taken out before 1 September 1998 Getting information about your credit agreement Harassment Help with your mortgage Homeless - What should I do? How can my Landlord end my Assured Tenancy? How to avoid Debt at Christmas Hire Purchase debt How to deal with business debts How to set aside a Judgment in the County Court Interest Charges after Judgment Individual voluntary arrangements Liability for debts & the Limitation Act Magistrates' court fines Mortgage shortfalls Negative Equity - What can I do if I want to move? Options for dealing with your debts Parking penalties in the county court Payday loans Reducing payments or suspending a bailiff's warrant on a CCJ Replying to a County Court Claim Form Student funding and debt Time order on an unsecured credit agreement Time order on a secured loan Time order: hire purchase or conditional sale agreement Water rates arrears and water trust funds What if a Creditor refuses my offer of Payment? What to do about debts when someone dies Rent arrears Mortgage arrears Review pack for people who can't afford to pay... Review pack for people who can afford to pay...

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Section 3 | Personal Budget Sheet

Complete a Personal Budget Sheet

This helps you to:

• See how much money is coming into your household;
• See how much money is going out;
• Work out affordable offers to creditors; and
• Plan your future spending.

You can download and print off a blank personal budget sheet or budget summary.

If you need any further help please call us on 0808 808 4000.

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Section 4 | Debt options

There are lots of ways in which you can deal with your debts. There may be an option that works for you depending upon your circumstances. If you want more advice about any of the options, phone us for advice.

Look at what options you may have for paying back your debts which we have set out with an explanation of how each option works and what the advantages and drawbacks are for each option. Options for dealing with your debts

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Section 5 | Sample Letters

This section is designed to generate letters and send them to your creditors.

Please select a letter from the drop down menu below, then choose from either 'preview letter' to see an example, or 'write letter' to complete the template for your chosen letter.

Please be aware, if you have a 'pop-blocker' active on your browser so that you prevent annoying windows popping up, this may prevent you from viewing the sample letters. Should this happen we recommend you temporarily disable your 'pop-blocker' to view the letters.

Please select a letter Ask your creditors to hold action on your account Ask your creditors to accept pro rata offers of payment on your debts Ask your creditors to accept a token payment or no payments on your debts Ask your fuel supplier to accept payments you can afford on a gas or electricity debt Ask your lender for information about what instalments you still have to pay under a credit agreement Ask an organisation to send you personal information they hold about you under the Data Protection Act Creditor harassment warning When a creditor has turned down an offer of payment, interest is still being added, and you want the creditor to take you to court When creditors have turned down an offer of payment, interest is still being added but you don't want to go to court Request for a stay of execution in the High Court Full and final settlement letter for any debt Dispute your liability for a debt where a creditor has not contacted you for over six years You want a copy of your credit agreement/statement of the account and the creditor has refused to send you a copy Mortgage shortfalls: Breakdown of balance owed Mortgage shortfalls: Please write off the debt Mortgage shortfalls: Full and final settlement letter Mortgage shortfalls: Lender should not pursue under CML policy Inform your creditor that you are terminating your hire purchase/conditional sale agreement Ask your bank to pay particular bills out of your account from money you have paid in To complain to debt collection agencies who are pursuing you when you do not owe the debt Letter to your lender if you have a complaint before contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service Withdraw your continuous payment authority from payday loan company Withdraw your continuous payment authority from your card issuer When your situation has not improved, to ask your creditors to continue accepting your current payment offer When a creditor has refused your offer of payment When a creditor refuses to freeze interest on your account Ask your creditor if they would consider writing off your debt Ask your creditors to reconsider if they refuse to write off the debt

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Section 6 | How to get your own copy of our information

• You can view the self help pack, factsheets and sample letters on line.
• You can download them and print them off.
• You can ask us to send you the materials by emailing National Debtline through the "contact us" section on this website or by ringing the helpline 0808 808 4000.

Don't forget to include your name and address.

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Section 7 | Frequently Asked Questions

Search through our library of Frequently Asked Questions to see if there is an answer relevant to you.

Please Select... What happens in bankruptcy? Tell me about Bailiffs and the Council Tax/Community Charge? How do I deal with Harassment by my Creditors? How do I deal with my Business debts? What do I do if I have been refused credit? What is the Mortgage Possessions Register? What can I do about Negative Equity? How do I reduce payments or suspend a Bailiffs warrant on a County Court Judgment? What is an Administration Order? I am homeless - what should I do? What can I do about a Mortgage Shortfall? How do I set aside a Judgement in the County Court? What happens when I have a fine in the Magistrates Court? What if my Creditors refuse my offer? What is a Charging Order? Hire Purchase debt? How can my landlord end my assured tenancy? What happens to interest charges after a County Court Judgement is made? How can I avoid getting into debt at Christmas? How do I reply to a County Court Claim Form? What happens to debts when someone dies? What is an Attachment of Earnings Order? What are the new rules regarding Water Rates? What are full and final settlement offers? Tell me about liability for debts and the Limitation Act? What is an IVA?

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