Traditional Debt Management
A debt management programme is an informal arrangement between you (the debtor) and the people you owe money to (your creditors). It allows Solace to act on your behalf to negotiate an affordable repayment plan with your creditors, taking into account the money you need for your essential living costs, such as rent or mortgage, food, electricity, gas and water bills.
The debt management plan is confidential, which means your employer won’t know about your debts unless you tell them yourself. The plan is flexible too, so if you change jobs or lose your job, your payments can be changed to reflect your new situation.
Individual Voluntary Arrangements
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors that allows you to repay only what you can realistically afford towards your debts.
It will considerably reduce your monthly payments and you won’t have to pay as much interest. At the same time, you are legally protected, so your creditors are not allowed to take any other action against you to try and recover their money. IVAs normally last five years. At the end of that time, any money you still owe is cancelled, or ‘written off’.
An IVA offers more protection than a debt management plan, but unlike a more drastic alternative such as bankruptcy, you will not be forced to sell your house or other things you own.
Budgeting Advice
Budgeting means working out how much money you receive each week or month, and then planning in advance what you need to spend it on, so that you don’t end up spending more than you’ve got. It’s a simple way to stay on top of your finances and take the stress out of managing your money. But some people are better at it than others.
Our budgeting schemes help you manage how much you spend and put you back in control of your money. We’ll show you how to plan for all your normal monthly costs. At the same time, we’ll look at areas where we can save you money and talk to you about those, too.