Money’s a big worry when you’ve been made redundant or lost your job – and you’ve got debts. Even if you’ve had a decent redundancy payout, keeping up repayments could put a strain on your finances. Here are some simple steps to help with your debt.
Step one – make a list of all your debts
List all your debts – including the ones you’d rather not think about. For example:
- car loan
- mortgage
- utility bills
- store cards
- credit cards
- Council Tax.
They’ll all need to be tackled at some stage. So you need to start off with a clear picture of where you stand.
Include the outstanding balances and how much you pay each month.
Find out more in our guide How to prioritise your debts
Have you missed a payment?
Use our Debt advice locator tool to find free and confidential debt advice online, over the phone or near to where you live.
Step two – claim on insurance
- Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) will cover your mortgage repayments when you’re not earning for a limited period.
- Payment protection insurance (PPI) will cover some or all of your loan or card repayments for up to 12 or 24 months.
- Short-term income protection insurance will replace a proportion of your income for up to 12 or 24 months.
Find out if you might have previously taken any of these out. If you have, make a claim. Because of the way payment protection policies were sold in the past, you might not realise that you have this cover.
Ask your lender whether your mortgage, loan or credit card is covered by insurance.
Find out more in our guide Claiming compensation if you’ve been mis-sold
Step three – prioritise your remaining debts
Losing your job can easily tip you over from a situation where you were managing your repayments into one where they’re starting to feel out of control.
Start by being clear which of your debts are priority.
Priority debts
Things like your mortgage, your rent and any tax or utility bills are classed as priority debts.
Always prioritise these bills. Your credit card company might be quicker to remind you of a missed payment, but don’t be tempted to take risks with the roof over your head.
If you don’t pay priority debts, you might lose your home or be evicted, have your electricity or gas cut off, have essential items (such as your car) repossessed, or be faced with imprisonment in some circumstances.
Non-priority debts
Things like credit card bills, unsecured loans, bank overdrafts and catalogue debts are classed as non-priority debts.
The consequences for non-payment of these aren’t quite as severe. The companies you owe can’t take your home, for example.
At the worst, you could be taken to court and ordered to pay an amount that’s judged to be affordable from your income.
Join our Facebook group
We’ve set up the Debt Support Community private Facebook group to help give you new ideas to tackle debts and keep you motivated.
Step four – work out your budget
Get a clear idea of what you’ve got coming in and what’s going out.
The amount that’s left after paying for your:
- household bills
- living expenses
- repayments and interest on anything you owe,
is what’s available to start paying off your debts more quickly.
Find out more in our guide Review your budget after a drop in income
Step five – start paying off your debts
On top of what’s left at the end of each month, you can also use redundancy pay or savings to pay off some of your debt.
It’s best to start with priority debts first.
Consider keeping back some of your redundancy pay to top up your income while you’re not working or to meet unexpected bills.
Need help?
If you want help managing your debts, there are various sources of free, independent advice and help.
