A SELF HELP GUIDE TO DEALING WITH YOUR DEBTS

MONEY WORRIES? A SELF HELP GUIDE TO DEALING WITH YOUR DEBTS 1

Contents Introduction page 3 Checking that the money is owed 4 Working out your budget Income Expenditure 4 Negotiating with Priority creditors 4 Rent arrears 5 Council Tax arrears 5 Fuel arrears 6 Hire purchase 6 Magistrates Court Fines 6 Social Fund / Benefit overpayments 6 Water Rates (and arrears) 6 Negotiating with non-priority creditors 7 Calculating pro rata offers 7 Token offers 7 Court action 8 The income & expenditure / budget form 10 Some sample letters Requesting a copy of credit agreement If the debt is statute barred 11 Pro rata offer letter Token offer letter Refuses offer 12 Request to freeze interest Telephone harassment 13 Other options available DMP/ / IVA 14 Bankruptcy / Administration Orders 15 Debt Relief Order 16 National / Local Organisations 16 Student advice and help 17 Other websites 18 2

Getting some perspective: Many people, when in debt, feel that they are the only ones in this situation. This is made worse by not knowing what can be done to resolve the problems. This guide will hopefully give you some insights into what to do next, but first, to get some perspective, here are some statistics, provided by Credit Action: Total UK debt at March 2010 was 1 460 billion 126 properties were repossessed every day in 2009 390 people a day went bankrupt in the last quarter of 2009 244 landlord possession claims will be made today Citizens Advice will deal with 9 500 debt problems today 378 000 loan accounts are in reportable arrears at the end of 2009 Total credit card debt in March 2010 was 30.4 billion 1 000 people are seeking some form of debt rescheduling every day Average household debt in UK is 8 796 (excluding mortgages) New students will leave University with average debts of 21 200 This is a short guide to help you deal with your debt problems A number of options have been outlined; including informal debt management plans to bankruptcy. However, as this is only a short guide, we have provided the website addresses of sites which could be useful to you and the name and addresses of local organisations which provide free debt advice. There is a lot of FREE debt advice out there, please do not pay for a service which you can get for nothing. See pages 15-17. The steps. 1. Check you owe the money. Just because you receive letters does not mean you owe the money or the amount you owe is right. 2. Work out what you need to live on so you can see how much you have left to pay the debts, there is a budget sheet on page 9 for this. 3. Make offers to the priority creditors first see page 5. Some debts are more important than others. 4. When you have arrangements with the priority debts, you can then deal with the non-priority debts. 5. Don t panic if Court action is being taken. You may be able to stop this or make an offer via the Court. Don t allow the threat of Court action make you offer more than you can afford. See page 8. 3

The steps in more detail: Step 1. Do You Owe the Money You only have to pay a debt if it is in your name (Council Tax being the main exception). You are not liable for other people s debts, including your partners, unless the credit was taken out in joint names. Creditors normally have a time limit of 6 years to take Court action for a debt. If you have not heard anything for a long time and then get a letter, seek further advice, as you may not be liable to repay the debt. If you receive a letter about a debt you do not believe you owe. Speak to a debt adviser prior to contacting the creditor. You also have the right to request copies of the agreement and statements, see sample letter below. Step 2 Work Out Your Budget A budget sheet is enclosed on page 9. Box 1 list all money coming in. You may want to check that you are receiving all the benefits you are entitled to. Citizens Advice can help or if you have internet access; www.entitledto.co.uk. If you want a tax credit check you can phone the Tax Credit helpline on 0845 300 3900. Box 2 list all expenses you need to live on. It may take some time to complete this, as it is not easy to allow for expenses such as clothing or food. Do not list any loan repayments here, or money you pay to clear arrears. ** Fill in the budget sheet either on a weekly or monthly basis. To change weekly figure to monthly, multiply by 52 and divide by 12 To change monthly figure to weekly, multiply by 12 and divide by 52 It is important to take everything into account, as you need to know exactly how much you can afford to arrears and credit debts. It is very important that the budget sheet is a true reflection of all your income and expenditure as it is only when you have worked out what you need to live on every week / month, that you are able to see what you can afford to repay. The money left is called your surplus income. Your budget sheet may also need revising every so often to ensure it reflects any changes in circumstances. Creditors may also request this every 3 6 months. Step 3 Negotiate with Priority Creditors Once you have completed the first two sections of the budget sheet, you can deduct total expenditure from total income. This will show you what money you have left, (if any) which can go towards clearing the debts. 4

It can be difficult to know who to pay first when you are in debt with several companies. You need to consider what action each creditor can legally take, as some are worse than others. The legal action priority creditors can take can be serious. It can mean losing your home, your liberty or being disconnected from services: Priority debt Rent Council Tax Gas / Electric Hire Purchase TV Licence Child Support Agency Action they can take Eviction Imprison / Bailiffs / Attach your wages Disconnection Repossession of Goods Fine Imprison / Attach your wages If you have any of these debts, you need to use the surplus income to make arrangements with them first. See box 3 on the budget sheet. If you are having difficulty negotiating repayment plans, do not give up, you can always seek further help from one of the companies mentioned in the further help section. RENT ARREARS If you owe rent arrears, you need to arrange a payment plan or you will face eviction. You should contact Southway Housing to arrange to pay the arrears to avoid losing your home (0161 448 4200). You will need to agree to pay the weekly rent due plus an affordable amount to clear the arrears. When you contact Southway, ask for an assessment for Housing Benefit, as you may be entitled to this and it can reduce the amount you have to pay. Southway have both a debt and welfare rights adviser to help you. If you need advice about rent arrears you can contact Shelter (a free advice service) on 0808 800 4444 or www.england.shelter.org.uk or phone Manchester Advice on 0161 240 5087 or 0161 240 5036 if you are facing Court action. COUNCIL TAX ARREARS If you do not pay your council tax, the first stage of Court action is for the Council to apply for a Liability Order. The Council will obtain a Liability Order if they can show that money is owed to them. There is a Court fee which will be added to your bill for this. After the Council get a Liability Order, they then have a number of options to collect the money, these include: attachment of earnings, bailiffs and attachment from benefits. If they are not successful in collecting the money, they can return to Court. At this stage, the Court has 3 choices: they can write the debt off, they can ask you to pay by instalments or send you to prison (but only if they believe you have deliberately not paid). Regardless of the situation, you are advised to contact the Council Tax department to try to negotiate a repayment plan (0161 907 9400). If the account is with the bailiffs, you may need to negotiate direct with them. You 5

can get further help from the organisations listed at the back of this booklet, if you need advice regarding this issue. The council tax unit will allow you to pay your current years charge over 12 months if payment is made by direct debit. This can be useful with budgeting your money. FUEL ARREARS If these remain unpaid, you face disconnection. Contact your supplier if in arrears. Any arrears can be repaid via a weekly or monthly budget scheme, by having a pre payment meter installed or by fuel direct payments if you are on qualifying benefits. Some gas and electric companies have Trust Funds to help people in financial hardship. Ask your supplier about this. HIRE PURCHASE If you have bought something on HP and do not make payments as per the agreement, the company may be able to repossess the goods depending on how much you have paid. If you have paid more than one third of the total owing, the company MUST get a court order to ask for the goods to be returned. You will need to contact the company and ask them to accept your contractual payment plus an amount to the arrears. MAGISTRATES COURT FINES These are usually Fines for driving offences or not having a TV licence. You need to deal with these as a priority as imprisonment is the ultimate sanction. At the Court Hearing, the Magistrates can set up a payment plan, which is affordable to you, so it is in your interests to attend the Hearing date. If you do not pay, then the account may be sent to private bailiffs, who will add charges and fees. This can increase the debt much more than the original Fine was. You will need to contact the bailiffs if it is at this stage to arrange payment. If you need further advice about this, contact one of the organisations at the back of this booklet. SOCIAL FUND / BENEFIT OVERPAYMENTS If you are on benefits, they can take any money outstanding direct from your benefits. If this leaves you in financial hardship, you should write to the office dealing with it and ask them to reduce the payments to one more affordable to you. If you are not on benefits, you can treat social fund debts like credit debts. When you have negotiated repayment plans on your priority debts, put the offers in box 3 of your budget sheet. You can then work out from this how much, if anything you can afford to pay to the non-priority creditors. WATER RATES Whilst you need to provide for your ongoing weekly charge, water rate debts are not a priority and any arrears can be treated like the other non priority debts. You cannot be disconnected for water arrears debts. United Utilities have several options for repayment including the arrears allowance scheme 6

(applied for through an advice agency) or you can request help via their Trust Fund. Contact United Utilities for a Trust Fund application form (0845 746 2034). Step 4 Negotiating with non-priority creditors If you have money left over at this stage, you can use it to make offers to the creditors in Box 4. The creditors in this section include: catalogues, bank loans and overdrafts, store cards and credit cards. The fairest way to divide this money is to make pro rata payments. You do this the following way: Making pro-rata offers Individual debt Total debt X Surplus Income = Offer So, if you have 50 per month surplus income and 3 creditors, it would be divided as follows to the creditors: CREDITOR AMOUNT OWED OFFER ABC Bank 1200.00 20.27 Credit Card 1500.00 25.34 Catalogue 260.00 4.39 TOTAL 2960.00 50.00 Using the above formula, the calculation for ABC Bank would be 1200.00 (individual debt) divided by 2960.00 (total debt) times by 50.00 (surplus income); this gives an offer of 20.27 per month. When you have done this, all the offers should equal the surplus income. Making token offers If you do not have any money available at this stage, you can ask the creditors to accept a token payment of 1 per month each or ask them to suspend payments for a short while if you feel the situation is likely to improve in the next few months. Sample letters are enclosed further on. Ensure when you write to the creditors that you ask them to freeze all interest and charges, otherwise the payments you make may not even cover these charges and you will want the payments you make to reduce the actual debt. Some of your accounts may be with debt collection agencies, rather than with the original creditor. Don t worry about this. They have no greater powers than the creditor and they are not bailiffs. Should they inform you that you are to receive a home visit, don t worry, as they have no right of entry into your home. 7

Both creditors and collectors have to abide by OFT Guidance on debt collection. These guidelines include: not being able to mislead debtors; not pursuing people who are not liable for the debt; not being able to contact you at unreasonable times and intervals and not being allowed to pressure you to increase payments when you cannot afford to. If they breach these guidelines, you can complain to them and to the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Ombudsman Service (addresses can be found on the internet or in Yellow Pages). The creditors may not accept your offer. However, you are advised to start making payments as outlined on your budget sheet and write to them again. You should ask them to reconsider their decision and inform them that you cannot afford any more than the offer already made. You can inform them that they are not acting in line with OFT Guidelines. Hopefully they will accept or send the account to a debt collection agency. If they do transfer the account to a collector, you may need to start negotiating with them instead. Step 5 dealing with Court action Many people are frightened of Court action being taken. The Court is not there to judge you but to settle disputes about how to repay the debt. If Court action is being taken, most of the procedure is done by post, so you may not have to attend. You will receive a claim form, which you will need to complete and return to the address specified or complete online using the reference numbers provided. Any offer you make should be the same as the one already offered to the creditor and based on your budget sheet. Do not feel pressured to offer more than you can afford and that you have budgeted for. If you agree with the debt, then complete the Admission form. You can include a copy of your budget sheet and make an offer of payment. If for any reason, the Court does not accept your offer, you can ask the Court for a re-determination. There is no fee for this but it must be done within 14 days. The case will also be transferred to your local Court and you may be asked to attend a hearing. If you disagree with the debt on the Court order you will need to complete the defence. You may want to do this if you have requested a copy of the signed agreement and the creditor has not provided this. Court action should not go ahead if you have not received a copy of the agreement when you have requested it. If you already have a County Court Judgement (CCJ), and you cannot afford to pay it or are being threatened with further legal action, don t despair. The matter can still be resolved. You will need to complete form N245 available from the County Court or online at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk The N245 enables you to do two things: reduce any payment plan (or set one up) and stop any enforcement 8

action being taken. There is a charge of 35 for this (correct as of August 2010), unless you are on qualifying benefits. These include Income Support and income based JSA. If you receive a qualifying benefit, complete form EX160. If on other benefits or low income, ask the Court if you qualify for remission of fees. Please be aware that this is only a brief guide and if you need further information or advice regarding your debt problems, please speak to one of the organisations listed at the end of this booklet. 9

BOX 1. INCOME (use all monthly or all weekly figures) INCOME & EXPENDITURE STATEMENT Wages/Salary All Arrears Outstanding Balance Wages/Salary (spouse) Family Credit Benefits Pension Child Benefit Other Other Mortgage Rent Council Tax Water Rates Gas Electric Court Fines A. Total Income Maintenance BOX 2. LIVING COSTS Mortgage Rent Other Other BOX 3. PRIORITY DEBTS D. Total Priority Debt Payment Council Tax C less D = BOX 4. NON PRIORITY DEBTS Payment Offer Water Rates Creditors Name Balance Owed Offer Home Insurance 1. Life Insurance 2. Electric 3. Gas 4. TV License 5. Court Fines 6. Maintenance 7. Travelling Expenses 8. Clothing 9. School & Work Costs Telephone Housekeeping Other B. Total Living Costs A less B = C. Money for Creditors Total Owed Total Payment Name Address Signature Date I/we agree that the above statement is a true record of the facts. 10

SAMPLE LETTERS To send to creditors to request a copy of your Credit Agreement. Enclose a 1 postal order in payment of the statutory fee and send by Recorded Delivery. They have 12 (working) days to respond. They cannot take Court action until the information is supplied. Name and Address of creditor Dear Sir/Madam Account o: With reference to the above agreement, I/we would be grateful if you would send me/us a copy of this credit agreement and a full breakdown of the account including any interest or charges applied. I/we understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 [sections 77-79], I am/we are entitled to receive a copy of any credit agreement and a statement of account on request. I/we enclose a payment of 1 which represents the fee payable under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. I/we understand a copy of any credit agreement along with a statement of account should be supplied within 12 working days. I/we understand that under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 creditors are unable to enforce an agreement if they fail to comply with the request for a copy of the agreement and statement of account under these sections of the Act. I/we look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully (Your signature) A copy of the letter to use if you believe the 'debt' is statute barred under the Limitations Act Name of Creditor Address of Creditor WITHOUT PREJUDICE Dear Sir/Madam Re: Account No/Reference No: No debt is acknowledged to you. You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself. I would point out that under the Limitation Act 1980 Section 5 an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.. The last correspondence/payment/acknowledgement of this debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed. I await your written confirmation that no further contact will be made concerning the above account and confirmation that this matter is now closed. I look forward to your reply. Yours faithfully 11

Letter to send when you are offering pro rata offers of repayment Dear Sir/Madam Re Account No/Reference No:- Since making the above agreement with you, our circumstances have changed. We cannot now afford our agreed monthly payments because... [your paragraph added here] We enclose a Personal Budget sheet, which shows our total income from all sources, and our outgoings. As you can see we have only XX per month left for our creditors. The offers we have made to our creditors have been worked out on a pro-rata, and we have written to all our creditors asking them to accept reduced payments. In view of our circumstances, please would you agree to accept a reduced offer of XX per month. If interest or other charges are being added to the account we would be grateful if you would freeze these so that all payments made will reduce what I owe you. Should our circumstances improve we will contact you again. We would be grateful if you would send a paying-in book to make it easier to pay you. Thank you for your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully Letter to send when you are offering token payments Dear Sir/Madam Re Account No/Reference No:- Since making the above agreement with you, our circumstances have changed. We cannot now afford to agreed monthly payments because... [your paragraph added here] We enclose a Personal Budget sheet which shows our total income from all sources, and the total outgoings of the household. As you can see, we have no money left to make offers of payment to the creditors. In view of our circumstances, would you please accept no payment / a token payment of 1 per month [delete as required] at present to be reviewed in six months. If interest or other charges are being added to the account, we would be grateful if you would freeze these so our debt does not increase. Should our circumstances improve we will contact you again. Thank you for your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully Letter to send if the creditor / collector refuses your initial offer Dear Sir/Madam Account No: Thank you for your letter of XXXX concerning the above account. We are sorry that you feel unable to accept the offer, which we have made. The majority of our other creditors have accepted the offers made to them and we have commenced payments. We cannot offer you more because we can only afford XX per month between all our creditors, and it would be wrong to cease or reduce payments to our other creditors in favour of your company. The offer made to you is on a pro rata basis, as used by the county court. [delete if token offers have been made] In the light of the other creditors agreeing to our repayment plan, please would you reconsider our offer. We will be making the payments in line with the offer to your company, on a weekly basis, as a gesture of goodwill. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully 12

Letter to send if the creditor refuses to freeze interest / charges Dear Sir/Madam Account No: Thank you for your letter of XXXXXX concerning the above account. We are sorry that you feel unable to suspend interest charges on the above account. The majority of our other creditors have agreed to the offer of payment and agreed to suspend any interest charges still accruing. They have accepted that to continue to charge interest would not assist us in our present financial difficulties, and can only serve to increase our total debt. As you are aware, we have already paid considerable sums in interest to our account. If interest charges continue, the monthly instalments we are paying will not even cover that interest. Also, the cooperation of our other creditors who have agreed to freeze interest already would be put at risk. We would therefore be grateful if you would reconsider your decision not to freeze the interest. This would mean that the monthly payments we make would actually reduce the balance outstanding to your company. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully If your creditors continually telephone you, you can send the following letter to them: By Recorded Delivery Dear Sir, Ref. XXXXX Despite my letters regarding ANY communication from your company, which stated that I require ALL communications in writing, your telephone calls continue. This behaviour constitutes harassment; the letters stated quite clearly to you that I require ALL communications in writing for future Court use. Do not telephone me again - remove any telephone numbers you hold for me from your systems. Your telephone calls are in breach of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines. If you continue with them after the receipt of this letter an official complaint, together with a log recording the times and frequency of the calls will be passed both to that office and to the Trading Standards office. For your information note that ALL telephone calls are taped. This type of debt collection method is contrary to the Administration of Justice Act 1970 in that it is intended to cause alarm and distress to the recipient. Your methods will not be tolerated. A formal complaint, containing copies of all correspondence including yours, has now been submitted to the relevant authorities. This will be relevant to questions of your fitness to hold a licence under the Consumer Credit Act, whether or not it results in a prosecution. Take further note that continued telephone calls after the receipt of a request not to call may constitute a criminal offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Communicate in writing and ONLY in writing, your telephone calls will NOT be answered. HOWEVER, CALLS WILL TRIGGER COMPLAINTS TO THE REGULATORY BODIES. I trust that I have made myself understood on this matter, Yours faithfully, 13

OTHER OPTIONS Whilst some people are fully prepared and able to negotiate with their creditors, others may require additional help and support or want to look at other options available to them. Outlined next, is a list of options available to deal with your debts. Some may be appropriate to you, others, may not. You are advised to seek further advice before embarking on any of the following courses of action. Debt Management Plan (DMP) If you have a certain amount of surplus income after dealing with the priority creditors, a DMP may be applicable to you. This is where a Debt Management Company negotiates with your non priority creditors on your behalf. Once set up, you make one monthly payment to the DMP provider, who will then distribute this to your creditors. A DMP could take many years to repay, if your debts would take many years to repay, you may want to look at other options. There are many companies offering DMPs on the TV and in the press, however, many of these will charge you a monthly fee. Should you want to enter into a DMP, please contact one of the companies below. Their advice is free, there are no charges, and as such all of the monthly payments you make to them go towards repaying your debts. Consumer Credit Counselling Service Freephone: 0800 138 1111 (8am to 8pm Mon to Fri) Website address: www.cccs.co.uk Email: client@cccs.co.uk Payplan Freephone: 0800 917 7823 (8am to 9pm Mon to Fri; 9am to 3pm Sat) Website address: www.payplan.com National Debtline Freephone: 0808 808 4000 (8am to 8pm Mon to Fri: 9.30 to 1pm Sat) Website address: www.nationaldebtline.co.uk All of these companies will do a full financial assessment and can also advise you on all the other options available. You will be assigned a caseworker that you can contact with any queries or updates. Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) A lot is mentioned about IVA s in the press little known Government legislation. However, IVA s have been about for over 20 years. IVA s are a form of insolvency and are in place for those who have assets to protect such as property. You would need to live on a limited budget during the 5 14

years an IVA is usually set up for. You need to ensue that you are able to manage this, as the IVA can be revoked if you do not maintain payments. If you do not own property, then your best option may be to apply for bankruptcy rather than applying for an IVA. Please seek professional advice before applying for any form of insolvency. Bankruptcy This option can free you from overwhelming debts, giving you a fresh start, subject to some restrictions. You can petition for your own bankruptcy, which as of April 2010 cost 600. If you receive qualifying benefits or low income, this can be reduced by 150 (qualifying benefits include Income Support and income based JSA). The County Court can advise further on fee remission. Bankruptcy usually lasts for a maximum of 1 year, after which you are discharged. Once you are discharged, most debts are written off and creditors cannot chase you for them. Some debts, such as Student Loans debts, Magistrates Court Fines or fraudulent benefit overpayments are not included in bankruptcy, with these debts you will continue to owe them even after discharge. When you file for bankruptcy, your bank accounts may be frozen and your financial affairs will be scrutinised by the Official Receiver who can make a 3 year income payment order if you have available income. Please seek professional advice before applying for any form of insolvency. Bankruptcy is an individual order, whilst both partners in a couple can apply; they will need to do so separately, both having to pay the costs. Administration Order If you have debts, which total 5000 or less, have 2 or more debts and have at least one County Court Judgement (CCJ), then you may be eligible to apply for an Admin Order. An Admin Order is a Court Order, which covers all your debts. You make one monthly payment to the Court and they distribute this to your creditors. Whilst the order is in place, no creditor can take further legal action and all debt collection letters should stop. Most debts can be included on an Admin Order, including rent and council tax arrears. When making an application for an Admin Order, you can also ask the Court to make a Composition Order at the same time. This will mean that you make payments to the Court for 3 years, after which time, any remaining debt will be written off. You make the application on Court form N92, available form the Courts or on line at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk This is an individual order so if a couple both have debts, they will need to apply separately. There is no cost to apply for an Admin Order. 15

If you do not maintain payments to the Court every month, the Order can be revoked and your creditors will once again be able to contact you direct for payments. Debt Relief Order (DRO) If you owe 15 000 or less, have assets worth less than 300, have a car/bike worth less than 1000 and have no more than 50 per month surplus income, you may be eligible to apply for a DRO. The application has to be made by a debt adviser registered as an intermediary. If you feel you could be eligible, you could discuss further with one of the agencies listed below. OTHER ORGANISATIONS If you are in debt and need further help and assistance to deal with the problems, someone to help you negotiate or decide what you need to do next, please contact one of the following organisations. Some of these are local to your area, some are National companies, who you can contact by telephone; others are web based. If you do not have internet access in your home, all local libraries are on-line and provide free or cheap use. NATIONAL National Debtline Freephone Tel: 0808 808 4000 www.nationaldebtline.co.uk Payplan Freephone Tel: 0800 917 7823 www.payplan.com Consumer Credit Counselling Service Freephone Tel: 0800 138 1111 www.cccs.co.uk DMP provider, factsheets, personal budget, information pack, sample letters, telephone advice DMP provider, self help pack, information, benefits information, debt calculator, telephone advice DMP provider, debt & bankruptcy advice, ask a counsellor, how to budget, telephone advice LOCAL Manchester Advice can be found in the Town Hall extension or you can phone: Manchester Debtline Mon to Fri 1.30pm to 4.00pm 0161 234 5678 Manchester Advice also has information on the internet, which can be found at: www.advicekit.info/advicekit 16

Citizens Advice Bureau Withington Methodist Church 439 Wilmslow Road Withington, M20 4AN Tel: 0845 122 1112 Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street Manchester, M4 5JW Tel: 0161 834 9057 Cheadle & Gatley Cheadle Library, Ashfield Road Stockport, SK8 1BB Tel: 08701 204040 39 Greek Street Stockport, SK3 8AX Tel: 08701 204040 Drop In Sessions Tuesday 9.30-12.00 Friday 9.30-12.00 Monday 10.00 16.00 Wednesday 10.00 16.00 Monday to Friday 10.00 15.30 (use side entrance on Wednesday) Monday Friday 9.30 13.00 Other local organisations that may be able to assist are: Manchester Advice Number 1 First Street M1 5DE Tel: 0161 234 5678 www.manchester.gov.uk/advice South Manchester Law Centre 584 Stockport Road, Longsight M13 0RQ Tel: 0161 225 5111 www.smlc.org.uk Open to residents of Manchester City council Assistance with debt, housing, immigration, benefits Open 10am to 12.30pm Mon, Wed, Fri. No appointments necessary. Employment, housing, immigration, social security help. Students Each University has a Welfare Officer who can assist you with any problems you are having. Universities usually have hardship funds, which can be accessed through your Student Union. It may be worthwhile to you to contact the Welfare Officer at your University for further information. University of Manchester Students Union 1 st Floor, Steve Biko Building, Oxford Road, South Campus. Tel: 0161 275 2947 website: www.umsu.manchester.ac.uk/advice 17

Manchester Metropolitan University 3 rd Floor, Students Union, 99 Oxford Road, Manchester, M1 7EL Tel: 0161 247 6533 website: www.mmunion.co.uk (advice section) Email: s.u.advice@mmu.ac.uk University of Salford Allerton Concourse, Allerton Building and at University House Tel: 0161 295 2149 website: www.salfordstudents.com (advice section) OTHER WEBSITES Please remember, if you are not on-line at home, libraries provide access to the internet, usually for free or for a small charge. There are also many internet forums about. These provide free debt advice. Many of these are run & moderated jointly by advisers and by people who have been in debt themselves. Therefore you will get first hand experience from others as to your options and how to deal with your debts. www.debtquestions.co.uk (forum, ask the expert & general information) www.moneysavingexpert.com (money saving tips and debt advice forum) www.direct.gov.uk (see money tax and benefits section) www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk (debt, consumer, benefit & self help forums) last updated : October 2010 18