It can be easy to panic if you are struggling to meet debt repayments.

But while it may seem impossible to get back on track, there’s always a route to dealing with financial difficulties.

If you can’t pay back your loan

As soon as you realise you’re going to be unable to pay back your loan or meet repayments, talk to your lender about your difficulties. See if you can come to an agreement with them by, say, reducing the monthly repayments and spreading them over a longer time period. You may even be able to get interest and charges stop – or work out a debt plan. Using one of these, you can pay one sum of money that is divided between your creditors.

Step 2 is put a break on your spending. It’s easy for debts to build up and become even harder to pay if you don’t take action as soon as possible.

 

Don’t ignore your debt

There is a range of charities that will offer free advice to anyone struggling with debt. For example, these include the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) and National Debtline.