Help with debt problems
If you cannot keep up with what you owe, protect your home, energy and income first, then talk to your other creditors and get free advice. This section explains the letters, court papers and money worries people most often face.
Falling behind is more common than it feels, and there are rules on your side. Lenders regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority must treat people who are in arrears, or about to be, with forbearance and due consideration. In practice that can mean freezing interest, accepting lower payments for a while, or giving you time to get advice.
Which debts should you deal with first?
Priority debts are the ones where not paying has the most serious consequences, such as losing your home or having your energy cut off. They usually include:
- rent or mortgage arrears
- council tax
- gas and electricity
- court fines
- child maintenance
- TV licence
- tax owed to HMRC
- some hire purchase, such as car finance for a car you need
Credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts, catalogues, payday loans and buy now pay later are non-priority debts. They still matter, but for these a lender has to go to court and get a judgment before it can use enforcement such as bailiffs. The most common mistake is paying whoever phones most often and letting the rent or council tax slip.
What should you do first if you cannot pay?
- Write down a budget. List your income and your essential spending (housing, energy, food, travel, childcare). What is left is what you can offer creditors.
- Keep paying priority debts, even if only part of the usual amount, and tell those creditors what is happening.
- Contact your other creditors. Explain, offer what your budget allows and ask them to freeze interest and charges. Keep a note of who you spoke to and when.
- Get free, impartial advice. MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline can look at everything with you and deal with creditors on your behalf. See where to get free debt advice.
- Ask about Breathing Space. In England and Wales a debt adviser can start a Breathing Space, which pauses most creditor action and freezes interest and charges for up to 60 days. Scotland has its own 6-month moratorium on diligence instead.
When do you need to act fast?
Some letters have deadlines that matter. Do not put these in a drawer:
- A court claim form. Respond by the date on the claim. If you do nothing, the creditor can usually get a county court judgment (CCJ) against you.
- A Letter of Claim from a business. Under the court rules for debt claims you have 30 days from the date on the letter to reply before court action.
- A notice of enforcement from bailiffs. It must give you at least 14 clear days before a visit, extended to at least 28 if a debt adviser asks. See what bailiffs can and cannot do.
- A default notice. It must give you at least 14 days to pay the arrears before the lender can end the agreement.
- Possession or eviction papers, or a warning that your energy will be cut off. Contact the landlord, lender or supplier and get advice the same day if you can.
Guides in this section
If a letter has arrived, start with how to deal with a default notice or, if a court has already made a judgment, satisfied and cancelled CCJs. If a collector is chasing a debt you have not paid for years, read statute-barred debt. If you need money for food, heating or an essential item this week, see emergency money.
For the bigger picture, how to write off debt covers every legitimate route, and debt and your mental health covers the extra protections available if your health is suffering. To compare formal options side by side, go to debt solutions compared.
Not sure which option fits? Answer a few questions and we can point you in the right direction. It takes about 3 minutes, and it is free and confidential.
County court judgments
- What is a CCJ and what happens if you get one? How a CCJ is made, what it orders, how creditors enforce it and what it means for your credit.
- Received a Money Claim Online claim form? Deadlines, how to respond online or on paper, admitting, offering instalments and defending a claim.
- How to check if you have a CCJ Searching the Register of Judgments on TrustOnline, free credit reports, and what to do if you find a CCJ.
- How long does a CCJ last? Six years on the register and credit file, what paying changes, and why the debt can outlast the record.
- How to remove or set aside a CCJ The one-month rule, setting aside with form N244, judgments made without your knowledge, and removal firms.
- What is a discharged (satisfied) CCJ? Satisfied and cancelled CCJs, the one-month rule, the £19 certificate and what your credit file shows.
- What is an attachment of earnings order? County court, council tax and DWP deductions from wages, how much can be taken and how to change them.
Letters and credit files
- How to deal with a default notice What a default notice means, how long you have, and what to do if you cannot pay the arrears.
- How long does a default stay on your credit file? The 6-year rule for defaults, what paying or settling changes, sold debts and fixing mistakes.
- How to ask a creditor to prove a debt Consumer Credit Act requests, the £1 fee, 12 working days, and what unenforceable really means.
- What is statute-barred debt? When old debts can no longer be taken to court, what restarts the clock, and what to do if chased.
Getting on top of it
- Priority and non-priority debts: what to pay first Which debts come first, what can happen if you miss them, and how debt solutions treat each type.
- How to make a budget when you are struggling with debt A practical budget method for people in arrears, with a worked example and free tools.
- How to fill in an income and expenditure form Who uses an I&E form, the Standard Financial Statement, evidence and the mistakes that get offers refused.
- How to write off debt in the UK The real routes to having debt written off, what each costs, and how to spot misleading adverts.
- Emergency money: crisis loans and budgeting advances Where to get emergency money now crisis loans have gone, across all four UK nations.
- Discretionary Assistance Fund Wales: how to apply Who can get a DAF grant, how to apply, what to have ready, how you are paid and how to challenge a refusal.
- Debt and your mental health How debt and mental health are linked, and the protections and support available if you are struggling.
Common questions
Should I pay the creditor who is chasing me hardest?
Not if it means falling behind on rent, mortgage, council tax or energy. Deal with priority debts first and offer your other creditors what you can afford after that.
Can a lender send bailiffs straight away?
Not for an ordinary credit card or loan. The lender would first need to take you to court and get a judgment, and you would get letters and court papers before that stage.
Is Breathing Space available in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
No. It covers England and Wales. Scotland has a separate 6-month moratorium on diligence, and Northern Ireland has agreed in principle to extend the scheme but nothing was in place as at September 2026.