The most important thing to do is act straight away. The sooner you deal with the problem the more options you will have, and your lender would be more likely to reasonable therefore reducing the chance that your home will be repossessed. Contact your lender as soon as possible to see if they can offer a solution.  

Check to see if you are entitled to any financial help through government schemes or benefits and remember, your mortgage payment must be your top priority and if your finances can only stretch to pay one payment in the month then just pay your mortgage.  You cannot lose your home by not paying your credit card!

Even if you have been issued with repossession proceedings and are being taken to court there are still options available to most people and a successful outcome is possible, the main thing is to get advice and attend any court hearings!.

Yes, as you will not be meeting your minimum payments your lender may issue you with a default notice.  This means that they are legally ending the contract made with you. Default notices added to your credit file and will remain there for 6 years.  These will affect your ability to get credit.

Yes, by paying less than the minimum payment you have defaulted on your credit agreement with your creditor and they can start court proceedings against you.  Most creditors will try other ways to get payments for the debts like using a debt collector.  Court proceedings cost a considerable amount so it is not an action that creditors take immediately or if they feel that it is of no benefit to them i.e. you have no assets or income available.

No, when your creditors accept your offer they may ask you to return all cards or will automatically stop the account.

You follow the same procedure as the original creditor.  You have to send your financial statement and letter and they may be able to accept your offer of payment and freeze interest & charges.

Creditors legally do not have to agree to freeze interest and charges but most will.  They may require some payments to be made before agreeing and generally will initially accept your offer for 3 months and then review the situation.  If you have kept to your agreement they usually will agree to freeze and further interest and charges.

An IVA normally lasts for 60 months. IVAs can in some circumstances, be completed over a shorter period of time, but this would normally involve paying a lump sum towards the IVA - for example from a remortgage.

Anyone in Northern Ireland with debts over £15,000 to 3 or more creditors with a stable income could benefit from an IVA. Your proposal will go to a creditor vote and if 75%(value) of your creditors agree they it will be accepted and legally binding.

Unlike bankruptcy, with an IVA you will not be forced to sell your home. However you might be asked to release some of the equity in your property to pay your creditors.

You will have to make a petition to the High Court in Belfast. A bankruptcy petition is a form which details your income, outgoings, debts and assets. Before lodging your petition at the High Court you will have to obtain an Affidavit from a solicitor – an oath to declare that details on the form are true and accurate.  This usually costs between £10 - £20.  The form and fees will have to be lodged. You will then have to attend a court hearing which will be held in the Judges Chambers – no public will be present.  Your petition will be examined and the court will decide whether to make a Bankruptcy Order or offer an alternative. After the court hearing you will be interviewed by the Official Receiver. The Official Receiver is assigned by the court to deal with your creditors and will decide what to do with assets such as vehicles and property. Any assets you have such as property and vehicles are usually sold.

Contact us for further information on what is viewed as an asset.  Your creditors are then paid with the proceeds of the sale. Any debts/shortfalls remaining are written off. You will be subject to certain restrictions during and after the Bankruptcy proceedings.

Bankruptcy costs £460. This includes the court fee of £115 and the Official Receiver’s fee of £345. This fee is payable when you take your petition to the court. You may be able to re-claim the court fee if you are in receipt of certain benefits. Remember that Bankruptcies are dealt with on an individual basis. A couple would have to make their own petition and pay the full fee each.

Bankruptcy will be registered with credit reference agencies and remain on your file for a minimum of six years. After this time you may still have to declare your previous history, particularly when applying for a mortgage.

You may have had an unsecured debt and haven’t heard from the creditor in a long time, you may have moved address etc.  Under the Limitations Act 1980 a creditor has to take action against you to recover a debt within a certain period of time, usually 6 years.  The time limits depend on what sort of debt you have.  Once the time limit is up the debt becomes known as Statute Barred and is non recoverable through the courts and does not have to be paid. If the creditor can prove you wrote to them admitting the debt, or you or anyone else owing the debt made a payment then the six years limitation period would start running from the date you last made contact or made a payment.

Yes, banks can off set debts and can use funds from other accounts you hold with them to bring the account up to date.  It is very important to bear this in mind when trying to get creditors to accept token offers or a reduced repayment in a debt management plan.

The Office of Fair Trading has produced guidance on what activities could be considered as harassment or unfair practice.  It is important to note that “anything done by a person which is reasonable” when trying to recover a debt, is not considered to be harassment.

Examples of what the OFT view as harassment or unfair conduct are;

• Impersonate a Court or any other official person, by letter or by telephone

• Make nuisance visits and phone calls, or use abusive or threatening language in person, by letter or by telephone

• Contact you at work, or the customer's employer with intent to create embarrassment and create fear of dismissal

• Call on the neighbours, pretending to believe the neighbour is you.

If this type of this is happening to you and you feel you are being harassed the first step is to write to the creditor and outline your concerns about the company’s behaviour. State that you are aware of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act and the OFT Debt Collection Guidance and ask that the creditor takes steps to avoid similar occurrences in the future. Tell your creditor how you wish to be contacted and request that they confirm their agreement to this in writing. If the creditor continues or you feel the need to make an official complaint you should contact your local Trading Standards Officer.

Most creditors use English Debt Collectors and will quote in their letters that they will send bailiffs to your home.  These are standard letters used for clients across the UK but there are no bailiffs in Northern Ireland.