Our support

Through our partnership with Citizens Advice Manchester, we can refer you to a specially trained adviser for confidential advice in the areas of benefits and debt.

Examples of typical support in these areas include:

• help with managing debts, including preparing a financial statement or negotiating with creditors to reschedule payments.

To access this support please contact us via our online enquiry form or find our contact details here.

Our online enquiry form

Steps to help with debts

The information on this page is taken from www.adviceguide.org.uk , the Citizens Advice public information website and is reproduced here with the kind permission of Citizens Advice.

It is intended to provide general information only and should not be taken as a full statement of the law. The information applies to England and Wales only.

If you don’t agree that you owe money, or don’t agree with the amount you’ve been asked to pay you should get advice from an experienced debt adviser straight away, before following the steps on this page.

Step One – make a list of your debts

Before you can tackle a debt problem, you need to collect together information about your money affairs. Make a list of all your creditors. You will need the following information for each debt:

• the name and address of the creditor
• the account or reference number
• the amount you owe.

It’s a good idea to keep the latest letter or statement for each debt together in one place so that you can easily find them if you need them. If you’ve received any court papers or letters that seem urgent, you may need to act quickly. If you’re not sure what you should do next, get advice straight away from an experienced adviser.

Once you’ve made a list of all your creditors, you need to work out which ones to deal with first. You need to deal with some debts first before others because the consequences of not paying these debts can be more serious than for other debts. The debts you deal with first are called priority debts. The debts you deal with after your priority debts are called non-priority debts.

Priority debts

Priority debts include:

• mortgage or rent arrears. If you don’t pay these, you could lose your home
• gas or electricity arrears. If you don’t pay these, your services could be cut off
• council tax arrears
• court fines such as magistrates’ court fines for traffic offences
• arrears of maintenance payable to an ex-partner or children. This includes child support you owe to the Child Maintenance Service
• income tax or VAT arrears
• TV licence or TV licence arrears – it’s a criminal offence to use a TV without a valid licence and you could be fined.

If you don’t pay council tax arrears, court fines, maintenance, income tax or VAT arrears, bailiffs can take your belongings. As a last resort you could be sent to prison or made bankrupt.

Non-priority debts

Non-priority debts include:

• benefits overpayments
• credit debts such as overdrafts, loans, hire purchase, credit card accounts and catalogue debts
• student loans
• money borrowed from friends or family.

You can’t be sent to prison for not paying non-priority debts. But if you don’t make any offers to pay without explaining why, your creditors may take you to court. If you still fail to pay, your creditors can take further court action against you, which could allow them to send bailiffs round to take your belongings away.

Step Two – work out your budget

List all the income and expenses for your household. Be honest and make sure that the amounts are realistic. You can use a budget sheet to help you do this.

Under income, include:

• earnings for your partner and yourself
• any benefits you are paid, including child benefit
• maintenance from an ex-partner for you or your children. Include any child support from the Child Maintenance Service
• contributions from other members of your family and any lodgers.

Think about the ways in which you might earn extra money or increase your income. You may be able to claim benefits.

Under expenses, include:

• housekeeping. Fill in realistic amounts for what you spend on all your expenses, including food, cigarettes and pet food
• housing costs. This should include mortgage or rent, a second mortgage or secured loan, service charges and life or endowment insurance cover attached to your mortgage
• council tax
• gas, electricity and water charges
• telephone charges
• travel expenses. Include both public transport and the cost of running a car such as road tax, insurance and maintenance
• insurance such as buildings and contents insurance on your home
• childcare costs
• TV licence
• clothes
• any other essential expenses
• money you set aside for emergencies.

When you’ve added up all the figures, you’ll see if you have any money left over to pay your debts. You may even be able to see if you can make some savings. An advice agency can help you draw up a budget and help you increase your income if this is possible.

Step Three – sort out your priority debts

When you’ve worked out how much you have left over after paying your expenses, contact each of your priority creditors. Show them your budget and try to make an arrangement to pay back what you owe. For example, you may be able to pay an extra bit each month until the arrears are cleared. Or you may not have any extra money at the moment but know you will have a lump sum in three month’s time which will clear the debt completely.

If you can’t afford to pay anything to your priority creditors and your situation isn’t likely to get better, the outcome may be very serious. Get advice straight away.

Step Four – sort out your non-priority debts

How you deal with your non-priority debts will depend on whether you have any money left over from dealing with your priority debts and paying for essential household expenses like housing costs and food.

If you have money to spare, you may have several options for dealing with your non-priority debts. You may have the option of:

• making offers to creditors yourself
• asking a Debt Management Company to make offers for you. Most debt management companies will charge you for this service. But there are two free organisations, StepChange Debt Charity and Payplan
• applying to court for an Administration Order. This would mean you only have to pay off a certain amount of debt. You can apply for an Administration Order if you have at least one county court judgment against you and debts of less than £5000
• arranging an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). This is a legal agreement between you and your creditors about how you’ll pay off your debts. Get more advice from an experienced adviser about IVAs
• putting all your debts into one loan. This is called loan consolidation. It isn’t usually a good idea to borrow more money to get out of debt and there can be serious disadvantages. Make sure you get advice before you take out another loan.

If you have little or no money left after you’ve done your budget, have nothing of value to sell and think your circumstances are unlikely to get better soon, you will have limited options for dealing with your non priority debts. The options you’ll have are:

• asking your creditors to write off your debt
• applying for bankruptcy (although this won’t write-off all your debts)
• applying for a Debt Relief Order. This is like bankruptcy but for people who can’t afford to make themselves bankrupt. Your debts must total less than £50,000 and your assets must not exceed £4,000 in value. The application has to be made through an adviser called an ‘approved intermediary’. Your CAB can refer you to an approved intermediary in your area.

This page was last reviewed in May 2026.