Ideas to fight debt counselling fund closing?

tomterm8

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm thinking as I read this...if the current systems are so beneficial in debt help why are we in so much personal debt? Until I square that perhaps I'm changing my mind and feeling the debt counselling in exisitence for individuals is less collectively beneficial than I was prepared to believe....I'll read martin's thing now and see if that helps address this doubt that I'm getting about it.

edit: it didn't. I read.and paraphrase..debt is a big problem, its getting bigger which leads me to think...the current remedies are not successful.

People only tend to go for debt counseling when they have a problem.

From a practical perspective, it is not very good to save £25 million in debt advice, and then have to pay out much more than that in the social problems associated with homelessness, poverty, crime, and mental health such as break downs that will probably happen if debt problems aren't sorted out.

In addition, I am sure any finance company will agree... the CAB saves banks a lot of money, because by helping people get back on track with their debt they end up paying a higher proportion of what they owe. The CAB does advise some people with impossible problems to file for insolvency, but in most cases people go on various schemes that result in the paying most or all of what they owe over time.

That is the reason the banks fund the national debt line... and provided a large chunk of this schemes money... because debt advice saves them a lot of money.

lostinrates

StevieJ wrote: »

So what is your suggestion then? it seems that drug addiction is getting worse, should we get rid of the drug counsellors as well and save even more money? thinking on, they probably have already done that.

I'm not sure I have a solution (in the same way I don't like the energy issue but can't provide a solution). Re drugs counselling...a separate issue BUT I have noted an acquaintance who can't work because of their addiction though now clean (a few years clean) goes to several different support groups amounting to a minimum of 12 hours a week.....it seems to me this could be more streamlined. They recently attended courses to become a mentor and ''liaison'' between addicts and social workers. I think if able to do this work they could probably do a couple of hours of low stress income generating work to their benefit and to the tax payers, freeing this small amount of money for others needing the help. I do not advocate a pure tough love stance: I think it will lead to wastage in people, money and an unhappier place for all of us, but I do believe that support can be given to people I know in a better, cheaper way making them less of a ''drain'' more productive, and ultimately more fulfilled.

I do not pretend to have any insight into a financial comparison. Be nice if someone did though!

lostinrates

tomterm8 wrote: »

People only tend to go for debt counseling when they have a problem.

From a practical perspective, it is not very good to save £25 million in debt advice, and then have to pay out much more than that in the social problems associated with homelessness, poverty, crime, and mental health such as break downs that will probably happen if debt problems aren't sorted out.

In addition, I am sure any finance company will agree... the CAB saves banks a lot of money, because by helping people get back on track with their debt they end up paying a higher proportion of what they owe. The CAB does advise some people with impossible problems to file for insolvency, but in most cases people go on various schemes that result in the paying most or all of what they owe over time.

That is the reason the banks fund the national debt line... and provided a large chunk of this schemes money... because debt advice saves them a lot of money.

OK, this makes sense to me, as an immediate action, but I still feel...if the problem increases the solution is only partial. I don't pretend to know what would be better.

tomterm8

Well, we have had the worst recession of my lifetime, preceded by a really large boom... it's not a surprise that there would be a increasing problem at the moment. The best solution is to fix the economy. After that comes financial education for everyone in school. If everyone who wanted to work could find a job, and everyone actually understood their finances, then this problem would be mainly restrained to the !!!!less, the ill and idle.

[Deleted User]

Many of the lenders did so irresponsibly and faced no repercussions, many did very nicely out of it.

If we can fund that we can fund this. I see it as a much better use of my tax and £ 25 million is peanuts.

Someone mentioned the big society and waiting for someone who is incredibly rich to give out of kindness (or for a knighthood no doubt). There is no big society, it just means letting people who care provide while those that don't get a tax break.

angel223_2

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Jacks_xxx

For those concerned about the country not being able to afford to continue to fund debt advice at the C.A. B., what do you think will happen to all the people in debt crisis that the C.A. B. would have advised if they'd had enough funding?

Do you believe they will suddenly - apropos of nothing - find a way to pay their debts?

Or do you think they may lose their homes, or choose bankruptcy, and end up costing the state much much more money than their advice at the C.A.B. would have cost.

I imagine that Martin posted this here because he thinks there are some people here who are financially astute - or at least aware.

Does it really make sense to save a little money today if it's going to cause you massive problems down the line?

Heyman_2

I agree with Jacks xxx, but a lot of these cuts are going to be this way i.e. save now, pay later.

One misconception being bandied about here - not everyone who uses debt counselling enters bankruptcy or an IVA. A lot of people just need advice to get themselves together or make sense of it all.

Whilst there is the stereotype (and god knows the Daily Wail readers on this forum love the stereotypes!) of a debt-junkie getting out of their mass of debt scot-free, there are plenty of people over at the DFW board who had their lightbulb moment and paid off the majority or in some cases ALL of their debts, through being educated about their rights and then working hard to do it the 'right' way.

Surely that's a good thing? Surely we want to tackle the debt problem from both angles - i.e. educating those who are yet to run up unmanageable debt and also helping/educating those who already have?

StevieJ

I think there is a case for the CAB to receive more money, be proactive and run debt classes in schools, after all they are the ones that see the casualties.

angel223_2

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