Help with money

Debt and money advice

Some basic rules for dealing with debt problems are:

Don't:

  • disregard debt problems
  • ignore court papers or letters from creditors

Do:

  • deal with all your debts
  • fill in and return any court forms
  • go to any court hearing

Go to Citizens Advice: work out your budget to get help understanding:

  • what you're earning
  • what you're spending
  • where you might be able to cut costs

Free independent advice

There are a number of services that offer free, confidential and independent advice if you are struggling to deal with your problems:

Money Helper

Money Helper gives independent advice and guidance on money matters. Money Helper was previously known as the Money Advice Service.

National Debtline

: 0808 808 4000

National Debtline is an independent debt advice service run by the charity Money Advice Trust.

Citizens Advice South Essex
Voluntary and Community Resource Centre, High Street, Grays, RM17 6XP

: 0808 278 7877 (free phone)

Citizens Advice: Debt and Money – offers a debt counselling service that may help if you are in severe financial difficulty.

StepChange Debt Charity

: 0800 138 1111

StepChange free debt advice includes an online debt help tool that can help you make a personal action plan for the best way to deal with your debts.

Turn2us

: 0808 802 2000

Turn2us helps people in financial need to access welfare benefits, charitable grants and other financial help.

You can also get advice at GOV.UK: options for paying off your debt/

Fair debt collection

Our policy for fair debt collection and recovery is provided below.