Trying to find a credit card debt financial adviser

sadinlondon

Hello,

After several years of juggling substantial credit card debt and now paying a lot of interest every month (a big part of our income), we are feeling quite overwhelmed and defeated and wondered if we could pay for someone to help us untangle the mess in the best way possible. We have tried to find financial advisers to help with this but have not found any.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We would rather pay someone to do this than go via Citizens Advice Bureau.

We are looking for someone non-judgmental, who can help us avoid paying all this interest and not getting out of debt.

Thank you for anyone who might have any ideas who we could approach and pay for such a help service.

fatbelly

When your are in debt, the last thing you need is another person to pay money to. You need debt advice, which is available free of charge in many places including the debt-free wannabe forum on this site.

Why not ask over there?

Valli

Ditto what fatbelly (feels quite rude, calling them that) says - join the debt-free wannabe forum and get that cc debt down asap

itsthelittlethings

Seconded - there is a lot of great advice on this site from very knowledgeable people. If reluctant to share here, try Stepchange.

enthusiasticsaver

If you do not want to use CAB I suggest stepchange. First of all there is no financial advisor out there who deals with debt. They mainly deal with investments. Secondly paying for advice on debt when you are already struggling with payments seems like a bad idea. You can post a soa on here (there is a link in my signature) and you will get advice from us.

sadinlondon

Thank you all for the suggestions! Stepchange did not look like a great solution when I last looked into this. You might get your credit affected by what they do if I recall correctly. They suggest asking for a temporary interest free breathing space and I’m sure this can impact negatively.

Re: paying somebody, I’m paying a four-figure every month on interest. Why not pay one of those figures to someone knowledgeable who can suggest consolidation loans or something viable instead of paying it every month to credit cards? I’m sure there’s someone out there who would be prepared to offer this type of help - for what I can be saving in return, it is worth it.

I thought I was posting in the right forum but obviously not, oops, sorry. Not sure if I can move this thread to the debt-free wannabe section or would I need to re-post.

Thank you all for listening and your advice - I’m very grateful! 🙏

ManyWays

I’m sure there’s someone out there who would be prepared to offer this type of help

Not really.
There are brokers and websites who will suggest a consolidation loan as it makes them money, but never a debt management plan, they aren't authorised to do that..
There are debt advisers who can talk about debt management plans and other debt options but will rarely talk about more borrowing or mortgage options as they do not have the regulatory authorisation
There are "free" credit reports who make all their money from you getting new credit cards and loans, so guess what they recommend.
You can not afford a good financial adviser and they aren't interested in you as a client paying them £1000. That won't cover their regulatory costs and insurance. And as a result they do not actually know much about your debt options.

No one makes any money from suggesting you have fewer takeaways, pay down your debts and first save a small emergency fund. So why not talk talk to the "experts by experience" over on the DFW board. They aren't second best because they do not charge, they collectively know more than people who would charge you.

I suggest you just start a new thread over there. No reason to move this one!
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/debt-free-wannabe

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82033660#Comment_82033660

There is no way that your credit worthiness will not be effected in your situation. Given no lender will want to lend once you start defaulting. This will effect your credit history for 6 years.

So you need to make a choice, either keep paying to get rid of your debt, or go via one of the debt charities such as Stepchange to help you out of the hole you are in now.

Grumpelstiltskin

You have to realize that getting out of debt means you must stop using credit. So by having a debt solution it will ruin your 'good' credit rating for 6 years.

BTW forget the credit rating it is a made up figure.

People worry about a mortgage renewal but as long as you stay with the same lender no problem, they do not do a credit check, just don't try and go somewhere else.

It does mean a completely different mind set to get out of debt but throwing away money which I guess you would put on your credit card doesn't work.

Yes you can get free debt help from debt charities but there is no magic wand you have to want to do it and be prepared to change.

sourcrates

Financial advisors deal with things like investments, pensions, shares etc.

What you are looking for is debt advice, lets call it what it is.

Now there are debt management companies that can organise a debt management plan for you at a cost, and this cost usually consists of a "one off set up fee" plus a "monthly management fee" which on average is around £50.

Such companies are simply out to profit from your misery, and have zero interest in actually getting you debt free, so should be avoided at all costs, because of this, we will not recommend any debt management companies that charge for their services.

The best advice I can give you, is to get as much input as possible, from sources that do not seek to profit from you, we have our debt free wannabe board, where all debt related matters can be discussed, and excellent advice is dispensed, just because you may pay for a service, it does not mean the advice is any better for that, in fact it is often a lot worse.

Come on over and start a new thread there, we can help you.

MattMattMattUK

I agree to all of the above, go to the DFW section, post an SOA and the people on there will do it for free and likely do a better job than anyone you will find somewhere else.