When I rang this company for debt advise I was at the end of my tether; the situation caused myself and my family much stress and there were many arguments about it.

Now I’ve had my finances sorted out by this fantastic debt management company I can now make affordable monthly payments and myself and the whole family are smiling again. This company were patient, understanding and above all helpful.

Anyone in debt and needing advice or a solution should ring these people first.

Brian Richardson, Sheffield, 17.05.11 is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

The staff always treated me with respect and courtesy whenever I had any questions or required help.

In fact would strongly recommend Chiltern to anyone in my circumstances they definitely saved me from certain disaster and bankruptcy.

James Hynes, Lytham St Annes is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

I would highly recommend this debt management service to others as they helped me get my life back on track and they are friendly and helpful in every way.

Lisa Jeffery, Glasgow, 14.08.11 is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

You will not believe the weight that has been lifted for my shoulders knowing someone else is in control of my debt and helping me pay it off. I don’t have to worry when I get phone calls or letters from companies demanding payment.

I am now finally in control of my finances and I don’t have to worry about being able to pay my monthly bills.

Kate Jones, Brighton, 05.08.11 is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

Since speaking to this company I haven’t had to worry about my creditors at all because they organised everything and now take an agreed sum of money each month to pay my creditors.

I was surprised at the ease in which they dealt with my creditors and debts and took a considerable amount of worry from me.

Mrs E Polley, Bolton, 23.07.11 is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

I did not have to speak directly to my creditors as this company did all the negotiating on my behalf; this was good as previously I had felt pressured by my creditors.

I would definitely recommend this company because they work on existing debts rather than offering huge loans, also the staff are really helpful and understanding.

Christopher Lucas, Leeds 02.08.11 is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

Robin Campbell, who was the guitarist with the successful music group, didn’t need to apply for a debt management plan as he has managed to strike a deal with his creditors over his debt problems, so he won’t be forced into bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, five of the other UB40 members – sax player Brian Travers, trumpeter Terence Oswald, drummer Jimmy Brown, percussionist Norman Hassan and lead singer Ali Campbell – have completed bankruptcy proceedings. They are now being pursued by creditors over debt problems thought to exceed £750,000.

The seventh member of the band, Mickey Virtue, has never been part of the bankruptcy case, contrary to a number of inaccurate reports. Mark Sands, a spokesperson for RSM Tenon, which is the financial firm handling the UB40 bankruptcy case, said:

“Robin and Mickey are not bankrupt,

“I understand Robin has done some sort of deal as part of the proceedings, so no longer owes any money. This could be something like re-mortgaging his house.

“Mickey is different, he has never been involved from the outset.”

Despite being a world famous reggae group and selling 70 million records over three decades, UB40 faced financial troubles every since their management company, DEP International, started to collapse in 2006. It finally went into insolvent liquidation in 2008, and the members of UB40 soon started to suffer financially. Ali Campbell was declared bankrupt first, in June 2011, and was soon followed by Brian, Terence, Norman and Jimmy in September 2011.

UB40’s Robin Campbell avoids bankruptcy and does not enter a debt management plan is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

The singer, whose real name is Tionne Watkins, had considered to applying for debt management but now is believed to have filed documents at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court last month, according to the entertainment website TMZ. Watkins is said to have debt management problems in excess of $760,000, which she owes on mortgages on her $1.2 million house as well as to other creditors.

The legal documents do not show that the 41-year-old has spent excessively, as monthly income is shown as $11,700 whilst outgoings stand at $8,821 a month. Nonetheless, the singer clearly feels that she is unable to keep up with her mortgage payments and that bankruptcy is the only available option.

As a musical group, TLC had numerous successes, including four multi-platinum albums and four number one singles. The band also won four Grammy Awards. Despite this success, however, T-Boz is understood to only receive around $1,200 per month in royalties.

The singer has also struggled with health problems, including hereditary sickle cell anaemia and a recent brain tumour, throughout her life, the cost of which could have contributed to her debt problems.

The singer also claims that she could have avoided having to file for bankruptcy if she was paid the child support she was owed for the care of her daughter, Chase Anela Rolison, which is said to total $250,000 by now.

TLC singer didn’t choose debt management but filed for bankruptcy is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has warned that failing to have a financial plan could lead to serious debt problems, especially if you are struggling to make ends meet already. This debt could soon become unmanageable, especially as wage growth is slow, inflation is increasing and unemployment is also rising.

All of these factors could make 2012 a very difficult year for many families, particularly the 6.2 million households which the CCCS identified as “financially vulnerable” in its recent Debt and Household Incomes report.

The charity’s director of external affairs, Delroy Corinaldi, said:

“It’s never too late to put your finances in order. Setting a clear budget now is the best way to help withstand the financial headwinds in 2012 and beyond, and will leave you in a far better position to cope with any difficulties you may face in the future.”

In another survey carried out by YouGov recently, it was revealed that 29 per cent of people think their best hope of improving their financial situation and clearing debt problems is to win the lottery. Financial experts warn that it is incredibly foolish to leave your financial future to chance in this way, especially as the odds of actually winning the lottery jackpot are around 1 in 14 million.

One in four people with debt problems need a financial debt management plan is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

Snipes, 49, is currently serving a prison sentence over his debt problems with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which pursued the Blade Runner star over millions of pounds in unpaid taxes.
Lawyers working for the actor employed a number of tactics to keep him out of prison, including the invocation of something called the “861 argument”. This theorises that some parts of US residents’ domestic income isn’t taxable, and Snipes claimed he was a “non-resident alien”.

This and other attempts failed, however, and in December 2010, Snipes was handed a three-year jail sentence for tax evasion and other related fraud charges. He is currently serving his sentence in the McKean Federal Correction Institution in Pennsylvania.

It now looks as if Snipes’ debt management problems will continue once he comes out of prison in 2013, or possible before his release, as American Express has filed a lawsuit against him over an alleged $29,343 credit card bill which he has yet to pay. The company is not only seeking to recover the amount Snipes ran up before entering prison, but also the interest on the debt and the legal costs it has incurred in taking the case to court.

Legal representatives for Snipes have not yet commented on the lawsuit.

Wesley Snipes sued by American Express over credit card debt management issues is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

Centre manager of the Christians Against Poverty service in Sunderland, Fred Finch, urged to people plan a clear strategy for their festive shopping and to follow it. He said:

“These are difficult times for a lot of us and the temptation is to say, ‘at least we’ll have a great Christmas’ and use that as an excuse to spend what we haven’t got.

“If you’ve already caught yourself saying this, we want your alarm bells to be ringing loud and clear.

“Over indulging on presents for everyone in a mile radius is no longer in fashion.

“Most of us have seen our income squeezed significantly and will be scaling back so we must not feel the pressure to over consume.”

Mr Finch went on to say that nearly half of those who had sought debt help recently had taken out a personal loan to cover Christmas costs. The charity’s statistics also showed that many of those went on to develop even more pressing debt problems, and some even lost their homes, faced mental health problems and the occasional person even considered suicide.

Mr Finch made it clear that spending more than you can afford to have a “nice” Christmas is simply not worth it if these sort of spiralling problems are the consequence.

Sunderland charity warned of Christmas debt problems is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

According to the council’s figures, a total of 9,521 tenants have rent arrears on council-owned houses. A total of £1.8 million is owed by 5,667 current residents, whilst 3,854 former residents owe a further £1.8 million. This means that on average per household, current tenants have rent debt problems of £318 each, whilst former tenants owe £467 each.

These figures are also a huge increase from a few years ago in 2006-2007, when the total amount of rent owed to the council was just £1.6 million.

The local authority itself is already strapped for cash, which has led to the launch of a new savings programme in which the council hopes to claw back £24 million by shutting care homes, cutting jobs and increasing council tax.

The council, which owns 19,000 houses at present, will now have to start sending officers to the houses of tenants who owe rent, to stop the arrears soaring and hopefully recover as much of the debt as possible.

Speaking of why this situation has occurred, the assistant director of housing services at Stoke-on-Trent City Council Val Bourne has blamed a new computer system which sent out warning letters to tenants with rent debt problems. She said:

“The connection with tenants was taken away. It became very much an automated process, made worse by a reduction in staff.

“Within days an officer will now knock on the door and talk to people about why they are not paying their rent instead of letting it drag on for weeks and become a problem they don’t want to face. We don’t want to evict people. We want them to keep their tenancies.”

Stoke council tenants rack up £3.6m in rent arrears and many could benefit from debt help is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

The Government has introduced the new rules in response to continued criticism that shops are pushing store cards on customers, not all of whom understand what they are signing up for. Many have trouble paying back what they owe on these cards and with interest rates as high as 25 per cent, debt management problems often follow.

As part of the new rules:

• Shops will no longer be able to offer discounts on purchases at the till in return for filling in an application for a store card
• Discounts and free gifts will still be offered for store card holders, but only after the seven day ‘cooling off’ period. Customers must return after this time to get money off their next purchases or their free gift
• Shop staff will no longer earn commission for encouraging shoppers to sign up for a store card, and any staff selling store cards to customers must receive standardised training first

Explaining the purpose of the new rules, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban, said:

“The public told us that consumers can be tempted into taking out a store card by being offered a discount at the till. We’ve listened to these concerns and have worked with industry to develop a strong package of measures in response.”

Shops warned not to tempt consumers into debt problems with store card offers is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

YouGov conducted the research on behalf of the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP), and timed it to coincide with Financial Planning Week (21st – 25th November). Researchers found that women, in particular, are at risk from debt problems once they retire. Nearly half of those surveyed said they had never put any money away for their pension fund and they aren’t saving currently.

Only one in five of those included in the survey said that they thought they were saving all they would need to make their retirement financially secure.

The research also revealed that many people aged 55 and over are worried that they will never be able to afford to retire. Around one in ten said they had no idea how to improve their financial outlook for the future, but one third said they were planning to tackle their debt problems first.

This suggests that household do not have enough disposable income at the moment to clear debt problems, pay all their bills and put aside savings for retirement. The figures show this too, as more than half of survey respondents said their household finances have worsened over the last six months.

Financial Planning Week is a campaign which aims to help people plan for their futures and to seek proper financial and debt advice where appropriate.

Half of UK could face retirement debt management issues by not saving for pension is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk

The Central Bank of Ireland has released data which shows that the number of mortgages which are currently in arrears of more than 90 days was 62,970 in September this year. This is a significant increase compared to just a few months ago in June 2011, when the figure stood at 55,763.

Furthermore, the bank revealed that another 69,736 mortgages have been restructured recently, through agreements between homeowners and the bank. A total of 33,360 of these mortgages are currently in arrears.

These figures show that there is a increasingly mortgage debt problem in Ireland, which could be attributed to the after-effects of the banking crisis, property crash and the €67.5 billion bail-out of the country by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU) in 2010.

Another factor which could be increasing debt problems for Irish homeowners is the high level of unemployment in the country at present. This 14 per cent unemployment rate, combined with lower wages and wage freezes, could make it very difficult for homeowners to clear their mortgage debt and keep on top of payments in the future.

Indebted homeowners could soon have some relief, however, as the Irish Government is pushing to pass new legislation which will force banks to help struggling mortgage holders by passing on cuts in the European Central Bank’s interest rates.

Irish mortgage debt problems increase is a post from: TheDebtPeople.co.uk