Card Rebate

If you’re struggling to keep up with payments to your debts, debt consolidation could help – in some cases.

The question is: Why are you struggling to keep up with your payments?

I can’t keep track of all my debts

Credit cards, store cards, personal loans, hire purchase agreements, catalogue payments…

These days, it’s easy to have multiple debts – and it’s easy to lose track of where you stand with them all. Paying different amounts, on different days, to different lenders can be very difficult to stay on top of, and as a result many people end up missing payments.

Unfortunately, missing payments doesn’t just mean your debt isn’t going down as it should. Depending on the kind of debt you’re dealing with, you can end up being fined, damaging your credit rating, and/or even facing legal action.

So it’s important to keep your payments under control – and a debt consolidation can help you do that, by simplifying your finances.

A single payment per month is much easier to remember. It’s also much easier to budget for, as you’ll know exactly how much of your income needs to go towards your debt every month.

I can’t afford all my debts

If you simply can’t afford your debt repayments as they stand, then debt consolidation is unlikely to be an appropriate way of dealing with your debt problems.

Although you might be able to reduce the monthly cost of your debt by taking out a debt consolidation loan (and arranging to repay it more slowly than you’re repaying your current debts), you probably wouldn’t be able to reduce that cost by enough to make a real, sustainable difference to your financial situation.

You’d probably be better off looking into alternative debt solutions – such as a debt management plan or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), which are both designed to help people who can’t keep up with the repayment agreements they agreed to when they took on their debts in the first place.

To find out more, or to get help consolidating your debts, click here.