Most people have money worries at some point in their
lives. However, if you think that you are getting into
financial
difficulties and that your debts are becoming a problem then you
should
take action sooner rather than later.
If you have missed payments on a loan, credit card or your
rent, or are finding it very difficult to make these payments,
then its time to act. Seek advice early to avoid things
getting worse (see below for details of who you can
contact). Ignoring the problem will not make it go away and
could mean that you end up owing more money. Something can
always be done.
Here are a few basic tips and points to consider about
debt. For more information check our 'Dealing With Debt' information
sheet, follow the links at the end of the page
or contact
the Student Advisers:
- Some types of debts are worse than others. The
student loan has very low interest and is paid back after your
studies and should not be seen as a problem debt. If you need
to borrow additional money then an interest free overdraft is the
best option.
- Talk to your creditors. If you are
having difficulties then contact your bank or lender as it might be
possible to work something out. Act early to avoid
interest or charges building up.
- Never ignore letters from your
creditors. Open them and respond, even if this is to
explain why you cannot afford repayments.
- Deal with priority debts first. These
include your rent, council tax and gas and electricity as the
consequences of not paying these could be very serious.
- See if you can renegotiate your non-priority
debts. These are credit debts. Seek advice before
attempting to do this.
- Work out a budget. If you haven’t done
this already then this is a crucial step towards getting back on
track. Check the Smart Money
budgeting page for more information.
- Try and increase your income. This includes
making sure that you're getting all the money that you should be
getting in the form of student loans, grants etc or social security benefits. See
Maximising Your Income for more
information.
- Decrease your expenditure. The
possibilities are endless here, but you may have to make
sacrifices.
More detailed
information about how to deal with your debts is available at the
National
Debtline website. This includes information on how to
make offers of payment to creditors. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service
are also very good. You can also look at the Student
Debt Advice Guide from the Debt Advice Foundation.
The
Student Advisers can give advice about debt problems, and help
you budget and write letters. Your local Citizen's
Advice Bureau can also help.
"The Smart Money initiative at the University of
Westminster is part of a national project aiming to improve
students' financial capability, led by the Consumer
Financial Education Body
(CFEB)"