The Debt Protector

Summary:
Debt from illness is one of the most commonplace causes of people seeking debt advice.

As in chronic illness people are unable to earn or are dependant on state benefits, money deficits can magnify debt problems in multiple ways. Stress caused by financial issues is a fundamental contributing factor to health problems. You don’t want them to break the bank.

Examples of advice consumers are asking for includes: Free Debt Management Plans , Protected Trust Deeds, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s), bankruptcy advice, administration orders, general finance management and  Bankruptcy advice, Protected Trust Deeds, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s), administration orders, general money advice and budgeting, Free Debt Management Plans,
Debt councillors generally spend more time with clients burdened with debt from ill health because they appreciate the particularly difficult times they are experiencing. They do not like to see clients struggling with serious debt problems created by ill health.

The reasons for debt during illness are many and varied. The usual factors that lead to finance problems for those suffering from poor health are as follows:-
• The speed with which their income has dropped.
• When you are sick you tend to neglect finances.
• It can be increasingly tricky to sort out debt problems with people whose health is deteriorating.
• Some clients get into financial problems because they have increased costs due to to their ill health.
• And try not to beat the banker.
• Respite care can be expensive.
• Debt can be racked up due to the extra expense of transport for treatment.
• Repaying debts can dramatically lower the households disposable income and the reduction in income due to sickness, makes the circumstances even worse.
• The illness will mean that carers have to be hired.
• The situation can be made all the worse if the main earner’s job is physically orientated. It makes getting back to work take that bit longer.
• Similarly, problems related to mental health may force people to be off work for particularly long periods.

If you have to find a new employer even more difficulties develop. Although there are clear employment laws in the British Isles, some people with ill health often have debt problems because they’re unable work normal hours. For those with chronic term health problems, dependency on benifits will make their financial issues much difficult to resolve. The problem is that many people suffering from health problems do not qualify for any benifits.

So what can be done?

If you’ve already gotten behind on your bills, your creditor will usually suggest methods to pay off your arrears gradually, alongside your normal payments. And if you’re unable to pay these additional, you could possibly append them to your loan or delay them for a time. It will generally depend on your financial history. So pay as much as you can each month. Make frequent payments even if you have to stagger them as this demonstrates that you are reliable then your lenders are more likely to treat you sympathetically and you could could minimise the arrears charges as well.

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Summary
In recent years bankruptcies and debt linked to women have escalated severely. This article looks at the trends and investigates the cause.

While concentration has focused on high-status business bankruptcies like that of Millers, new data revealed by the Insolvency Service reveal that numerous individuals are going bust – and many of them are ladies

In the last 6 years bankruptcies amongst ladies have risen nearly fourfold. In fact they now make up 40 per cent of all bankruptcies with young females under the age of thirty five most prone to experience financial breakdown.
The statistics from the Bankruptcy Service made known that last year 24,100 ladies were declared bankrupt, up from only 6,646 in 2004. With males the figure was 37,975, that’s roughly 250% higher than the 15,741 which were declared bankrupt in 2003.

This signifies that eight years ago ladies made up twenty five per cent of bankrupts, but by last year that had increased to 38%.

In general, individuals aged between 32 and 42 are most apt to go bust. But with females it’s the youngsters that are possiblymost at risk, the twenty four to34 years of age.

The swift growth of female insolvency is most likely linked to both reckless spending when  getting a loan was too easy and their increased exposure owing to the escalating numbers of women who don’t have marriage or family support. It is apparent that more ladies are running up unmanageable debts as they attempt to uphold extravagant lifestyles.

They want to spend like Nichole Richie but just don’t have the money to repay the debts they run up. It’s daunting as they increasingly have to borrow more to get on the property ladder and if they live alone, there is nobody to contribute to the financial liability.

On the whole, some specialist financial advisers consider that insolvencyamong females would quickly match levels amongst gentlemen.

But theories by Ministers of Parliament, that females are particularly open to being made redundant were shown to be wrong by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month. It said redundancy amongst females is running at at 1/2 the rate of men, and more women are protected as a higher proportion of them work in the public sector.

But the rise in ladies insolvency and debt insinuate that women are distressed for reasons over and above cuts in employment and income. Social studies have frequently confirmed that divorce leaves gentlemen much better off than females, usually because ladies more often than not take the children.

But if a cohabiting couplebreak up, the gentleman has no financial obligation to the female. And between five and six million Britons cohabit.

And a growing proporton of ladies have choosen to stay single either to continue with careers that may now be doubtful, or because of a benefit system that rewards single mothers but penalises couples.

Many of us get into financial trouble from time to time and some of us rely on our relations to help us out. These bankruptcies amongst ladies are a product of too manywomen being alone without financial assistance.

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Summary
The UK Government have put pressure on mortgage lenders to minimise the levels of repossessions due to payment defaults. This article looks at how the lenders are replying.

As they steady themselves for a rise in defaults, mortgage lenders have published plans to minimise the number of households who have lost their homes. (CML) said that while mortgage repossessions and arrears were expected to remain low, the UK’s worsening economic future may cause more households finding themselves in difficulties.

The The Council of Mortgage Lender’s initiative aims to make sure that homeowners who are unable to retain their mortgage repayments will only lose their home after all other measures have been unsuccessful. Mortgage lenders are already obliged by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to have policies for arrears management which aim to avoid repossessions, except where there is no other option. But there is no standard policy, and repossession schemes alter between lenders.

In a letter to Alistair Darling the Chancellor, the The Council of Mortgage Lender’s said its members had signed up to four measures to help keep repossessions minimal.

Lenders have agreed to audit their current arrears management schemes and improve them to bring them in parallel with new industry policy that have been issued by the The Council of Mortgage Lender’s. Borrowers who fall behind with repayments will also be provided with council explaining their lenders’ arrears administration guide, so that they can be clear on what to expect and how they will be treated.

Lenders will also adopt what is called the “pre-action protocol” which lays out the various steps the lender must follow through prior to taking an arrears case to court inorder to ensure court action is a last resort.

Finally, banks and building societies also have to be assertive in assisting people to plan for possible higher mortgage repayments when their present deal ends. The Council wants lenders to communicate with borrowers towards the end of their discounted deal or fixed rate early and encourage them to get in touch with the lender if they anticipate they may have difficulty meeting the higher repayments.

The Director General at the CML said: ‘We continue to anticipate that the level of mortgage arrears and possessions will remain low, as originally forecasted. We continue to work closely with Government Ministers we look forward to a clear statement of the Government’s own position on a safety net for borrowers. With the economy worsening and an incomplete safety net for mortgage borrowers, the CML cannot be complacent about the outlook and the challenges facing lenders, borrowers and public policy makers alike.’

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