Feed Subscription (more)

Debt Consolidation Advice, Help and News from Debt Advisers Direct

syndicated content boosted by feedcat.net

Show Feed as XML

 

www.debtadvisersdirect.co.uk

Current Feed Content from 7 Sep 08 00:29

• Debt consolidation: hope for the best, prepare for the worst

  Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:45:49 GMT

  Is now the time to consolidate your debts? At a time like this, does it make sense to bring all your debts together into a single larger loan?
  
  Debt consolidation – pros & cons
  Pros: Consolidating your debts can reduce both the interest and the amount you’re paying every month, as well as making your debt much easier to manage.
  
  Cons: It can also mean your debt takes longer to repay and potentially costs you more in the long run.
  
  So, is now a good time to think about a consolidation loan?

• Debt consolidation loans still an option

  Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:55:7 GMT

  Are debt consolidation loans still available? Every three months, the Bank of England publishes its Credit Conditions Survey, which reveals what changes lenders have seen in the credit market recently, and what they expect in the months ahead.
  
  The most recent Survey confirms what you’d probably expect – that secured and unsecured credit did indeed become less available in April-June 2008. But the news isn’t all bad. Lenders may be more cautious about giving people loans, but they’re still lending significant amounts of money for all kinds of purposes, including debt consolidation.

• IVA / Trust Deed: what’s the difference?

  Fri, 1 Aug 2008 16:49:42 GMT

  If you have found yourself in serious amounts of debt, or know someone else who has, you may be familiar with the terms IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) and Trust Deed. Both are ways of getting yourself out of unmanageable debt, but there are fundamental differences between the two – the most important being that one applies to England and Wales, and the other applies to Scotland.

• Is your IVA (still) right for you?

  Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:49:26 GMT

  Is your IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) still right for you? If you’re in an IVA, you might hear about other debt solutions that sound easier, faster, cheaper, or all three.
  
  Usually, if something sounds too good to be true, there’s a good chance it is. After all, nobody signs up to a five-year commitment like an IVA without thinking long and hard about it. Plus, debt advisers are legally obliged to explain the pros and cons of (and the alternatives to) an IVA to anyone who’s thinking about starting one. Debt management, consolidation loans, bankruptcy – if any of these debt solutions was more appropriate, your debt adviser should have suggested it before your IVA began.

• Bad news for homebuilders and homeowners

  Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:37:44 GMT

  The UK’s economic problems aren’t limited to ‘just’ the credit crunch or ‘just’ the fall in house prices. Unfortunately, bad news often leads to more bad news: today, the credit crunch means many people can’t get a mortgage, which further depresses demand for – and prices of – houses, which means less money for homeowners, homebuilders and the whole economy.

• What is inflation?

  Thu, 3 Jul 2008 16:2:7 GMT

  Inflation is a measure of the average rise in prices of goods and services over time. In the UK, it is measured once a month by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), who compile a ‘basket’ of approximately 650 goods and services that represent the average buying habits of the public, and calculate the average rise in prices based on this.
  
  There are two main measures of inflation that take different factors into account: the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which the Government use officially, and the wider-ranging Retail Price Index (RPI).

• Surviving a “squeeze on real take-home pay”

  Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:20:17 GMT

  In millions of UK households, every penny is already accounted for: from food and petrol to utility bills and debt repayments, it’s as good as spent before it’s even earned.
  
  So when Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, tells us we’re facing a “squeeze on real take-home pay” – and we hear that the cost of gas and electricity could rise by up to 40 per cent this winter – finding a way to reduce monthly costs is absolutely vital.

• House price histories

  Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:49:32 GMT

  What’s happening with house prices? Wherever we look, we find different experts making different predictions. Even more confusing, those experts change their minds as the housing market changes – if you find a company predicting a 5% fall in prices in 2008, there’s a fair chance that back in December they were talking about a year of ‘flat’ prices.
  
  Still more confusing, it seems there’s no definite agreement on where we stand today!

• Repossession proceedings - and how to deal with them (part 2 of 2)

  Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:33:8 GMT

  Note: This is the second part of a two-part blog. If you’ve not read the first half, we’d recommend you start by clicking here. [link to Blog 38]
  
  Suspended Possession Order
  As the name says, this is a Possession Order which the Court has granted – but suspended. In other words, it won’t be enforced unless you fail to stick to the repayment terms laid down in the Order.

• Repossession proceedings - and how to deal with them (part 1 of 2)

  Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:29:46 GMT

  If you can’t keep up with your mortgage payments and your lender doesn’t think you’ll be able to sort out your finances in a reasonable timeframe, they may suggest you sell your property. If you don’t agree, they may feel they have to start repossession proceedings – starting with a default notice...

• Improve your home, increase your equity

  Mon, 2 Jun 2008 16:22:56 GMT

  If you’re a homeowner and you owe less on your house than it’s worth, you have what is known as ‘equity’. A simple equation:
  
  equity equals value of home minus amount you owe in mortgages / secured loans

• Mortgage arrears – and how to deal with them

  Mon, 2 Jun 2008 16:13:21 GMT

  When it comes to mortgages, there’s a big difference between mortgage debt and mortgage arrears.
  
  Mortgage Debt: Anyone with a mortgage owes money to the lender. That’s how mortgages work: you borrow money to buy the property, then repay it over (often) 20-30 years. As long as you can afford the repayments, this isn’t a problem. It’s very similar to paying rent – except one day, there’ll be nothing more to pay…

• `Early repayment charge` – what is it?

  Fri, 23 May 2008 17:40:6 GMT

  If you’re thinking about repaying a loan early, it’s important to understand how an ‘early repayment charge’ works.
  
  When you borrow money, the lender anticipates earning interest over a fixed period of time. Many lenders will demand an early repayment charge (or ‘redemption penalty’) if you pay a loan back early, because they won’t be getting as much money back in interest as they originally anticipated.

• Budgeting - a solution to your debts?

  Fri, 16 May 2008 14:55:35 GMT

  If you’re looking for a solution to your debt problems, the most important thing is to find the right solution. Some debt solutions are suitable for big debts; others for small debts. (And ‘big’ and ‘small’ mean different things for different people, depending on their overall financial situation.)
  
  It’s always worth talking to a debt adviser about your finances – but if your debts aren’t too serious, the best debt solution may simply be learning to budget more effectively. You might be surprised how quickly you could solve your debt problems if you really put your mind to it.

• Debt advice: £10 million of good news for homeowners

  Fri, 16 May 2008 14:53:57 GMT

  On 9 May, Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Caroline Flint (Housing Minister) announced that the Government would provide £10 million of funding to improve the financial support and debt advice that’s available to homeowners having trouble paying their mortgages.
  
  The funding will provide people who might lose their home with ‘expanded access’ to free legal representation in the county courts. It will also pay for specialist debt advice training for staff in charity and local authority organisations, and a new comprehensive debt advice service from the National Homelessness Advice Service.

• IVAs and bankruptcies Jan - Mar 2008

  Fri, 9 May 2008 15:16:55 GMT

  The latest figures from the Insolvency Service show a slight rise in the number of individual insolvencies (bankruptcies and IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements)) recorded in England and Wales during the first three months of 2008.
  
  To get the most from figures like these, it’s always helpful to look at how they compare with the same time period last year, as well as with the three-month period that’s just passed.

• Consolidating your debts in a credit crunch

  Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:5:26 GMT
  These days, with the average adult carrying almost £5, 000 of unsecured debt, more people than ever are looking for the solution to their debt problems, whether that means debt consolidation, debt management or insolvency (Trust Deeds, IVAs (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) or bankruptcy).

• What information does a Credit Reference Agency hold?

  Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:21:39 GMT

  If you’re about to apply for credit – or if you’ve been turned down – you might have heard about the Credit Reference Agencies: the main ones being Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

• What is a Credit Reference Agency?

  Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:38:29 GMT

  Credit Reference Agencies collect information about the way people handle their finances. They use this to compile your credit report, which you can think of as your financial ‘track record’.

  There are three Credit Reference Agencies: Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

• How to: get approved for credit

  Fri, 4 Apr 2008 10:17:59 GMT

  When people talk about ‘the credit crunch’, they mean that getting approved for credit isn’t easy right now.

  In a credit crunch, lenders are very careful about lending money – partly because all the other lenders are watching their lending very carefully, so they’re not lending to each other very much.

feedcat.net promotes your content, measures audiences
and saving load of your server resources!

Start feed boosting now for free.

*