Debt Advice Centre

Causes:

Perhaps between jobs, suffering illness, or have had unexpected bills or a large financial commitment to cover.

Symptoms:

- You are using credit cards more
- You have obtained new credit cards ‘just in case’
- Your overdraft is heavily relied on
- You are concerned, but not overly worried

Causes:

Too much of your income is taken up with credit card and loan repayments.

Symptoms:

- You are coping, but only just
- You deal with unexpected bills by borrowing more
- You regularly look to switch card debt to 0% deals
- You are paying minimum payments on your cards
- You think your next pay rise will give you some ‘space’
- You consciously try to avoid thinking about your debt

Causes:

Your income isn’t enough to cover your monthly expenditure any more, so your overall debt is increasing slowly.

Symptoms:

- You have consolidated debts already
- You make minimum payments by direct debit
- You don’t open your monthly statements
- You have been turned down for credit
- You are worried, you are beginning to panic
- You are losing sleep, drinking more or both

Causes:

You are over-borrowed and cannot pay all your bills on time.

Symptoms:

- You are in arrears with at least two lenders
- Some of your accounts are handled by debt collectors
- You have been threatened with court action
- You make promises to pay that you can’t keep
- You may even have judgments already
- Your family relationships are affected
- You avoid opening any bill that arrives in the post
- You are very worried
- You are losing sleep, weight and friends
- You are thinking of emigrating/doing a runner