Dealing With Debt: Where to Start

Data last checked on 8 October 2026.

Checked against MoneyHelper, GOV.UK, the FCA Handbook and one other official source. Edited by Steven Butler.

All the pages checked

Start by talking to a debt adviser, before you agree to make payments to anyone you owe money to. The advice is free, confidential and independent. Then sort your debts by what happens if you miss them: priority debts carry the most serious consequences if you do not pay.

Key points

✓Talk to a debt adviser before you agree to pay any creditor.
✓GOV.UK lists National Debtline (0808 808 4000), Citizens Advice (0800 144 8848 in England) and StepChange Debt Charity (0800 138 1111).
✓Some debt management companies charge a set up fee plus a handling fee each time you make a payment, so check the costs before you sign up.
✓Pay priority debts first: they carry the most serious consequences if you miss them.
✓Consumer credit lenders and debt collectors must treat you with forbearance and due consideration if you are in or approaching arrears or in default.

Priority vs non-priority debts

Priority debts carry the most serious consequences if you do not pay them. They are not always the largest debts or the ones with the highest interest rates, but missing them could lead to serious problems.

Priority debts, deal with these first:

Yes: Court fines
Yes: Council Tax or Rates
Yes: TV Licence
Yes: Child Maintenance
Yes: Gas and electricity bills
Yes: Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT
Yes: Mortgage, rent and any loans secured against your home
Yes: Hire purchase agreements, if what you are buying with them is essential
Yes: Missed payments owed to DWP or HMRC

These are not priority debts:

No: Overdrafts
No: Personal loans, and bank or building society loans
No: Credit card and store card debts, and payday loans
No: Catalogue, home credit or in-store credit debts
No: Money borrowed from friends or family
No: Student loans: MoneyHelper says they are not considered priority payments

Missing priority debts could mean a visit from bailiffs, a court summons, bankruptcy, your gas and electricity cut off, or losing your home. The consequences of missing non-priority debts are less serious, though your creditor could eventually take you to court or instruct bailiffs. MoneyHelper's two guides treat water differently: the guide to prioritising debts lists water and sewerage bills as non-priority but worth considering alongside priority bills, and its Bill prioritiser calls a water bill a priority. Your water cannot be cut off in the same way as electricity. Our priority debts guide covers each one, and our bailiffs guide and County Court Judgments guide cover what enforcement looks like.

Get free debt advice first

You can get free, confidential and independent advice on debt problems. The MoneyHelper website lists more free debt advice services.

Yes: National Debtline: 0808 808 4000 (England and Wales)
Yes: Citizens Advice: 0800 144 8848 (England), 0800 702 2020 (Wales), 0800 028 1456 (Scotland)
Yes: StepChange Debt Charity: 0800 138 1111
Yes: PayPlan: 0800 280 2816
Yes: Community Money Advice, MoneyPlus Advice, Money Wellness and Debt Advice Foundation are also on the GOV.UK list

A debt adviser will:

Yes: Treat everything you say in confidence
Yes: Never judge you or make you feel bad about your situation
Yes: Suggest ways of dealing with debts that you might not know about
Yes: Check you have applied for all the benefits and entitlements available to you

Get free debt advice quickly if you are worried you will miss a priority payment or have already missed one, and straight away in an emergency: bailiffs contacting you, a court summons, your gas or electricity cut off, or your home, car or goods repossessed. Some debt advisers can speak to the court, bailiff or creditor for you, so ask whether yours can.

Some debt management companies charge a set up fee plus a handling fee each time you make a payment. Make sure you understand the costs of your plan and how you pay for it. Every Debt Management Plan provider must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and you can check on the FCA Firm Checker.

GOV.UK's own list covers UK-wide organisations and ones based in England and Wales, with separate pages for debt advice in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.

Key debt solutions explained

Option	What GOV.UK and MoneyHelper say
Debt Management Plan	An agreement with your creditors to pay your debts. They do not have to agree to it, and it can only be used to pay unsecured debts.
Administration order	For a county court or High Court judgment you cannot pay in full. The debt must be less than £5,000, and you make one payment a month to your local court.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)	An agreement to pay all or part of your debts through an insolvency practitioner. It applies to all your creditors, including any who disagreed.
Debt Relief Order (DRO)	You may qualify if you owe less than £50,000, usually have less than £75 a month spare income and do not own your home. You stop making payments towards your debts for 12 months. Our DRO guide has the rest.
Bankruptcy	A legal process that can offer relief if you are unable to pay your debts. Not all debts can be included, and you might be told to use your assets to pay off your debts first. Our bankruptcy guide has the detail.
Breathing Space	If you live in England or Wales, up to 60 days of temporary protection from your creditors while you get debt advice and make a plan. You still need to make your debt repayments. Our Breathing Space guide covers it.
Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland)	In Scotland you can arrange a Debt Payment Programme from the Debt Arrangement Scheme. All interest and charges on the debts in it are frozen if you keep up with your payments. Our Debt Arrangement Scheme guide has the rest.

An IVA usually lasts five or six years and is legally binding, so cancelling it once you have signed is likely to bring harsh penalties. In Scotland, MoneyHelper lists the Debt Arrangement Scheme, a Debt Management Plan, trust deeds and bankruptcy, which is known legally as sequestration. In Northern Ireland it lists a Debt Management Plan, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, a Debt Relief Order and bankruptcy.

If you have a lump sum that covers part of your debts, you could ask your creditors to accept a part payment and write off the rest. You might also agree an informal arrangement: payments based on what you can afford after essential household outgoings, with a request to freeze interest and charges.

Your rights when dealing with creditors

Yes: Consumer credit lenders and debt collectors must treat customers in or approaching arrears or in default with forbearance and due consideration
Yes: The FCA's examples of forbearance include suspending, reducing, waiving or cancelling further interest or charges, for instance when you provide evidence of financial difficulties and your debt would keep rising if interest and charges continued
Yes: Providers must offer you a range of support options, and the sooner you talk to them the better
Yes: Breathing Space in England and Wales stops enforcement action against you and stops your creditors adding interest or charges to your debt
Yes: If you are getting mental health crisis treatment, your Breathing Space protection lasts for the length of your treatment, plus another 30 days

Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 makes it an offence to harass someone with demands for payment that, by their frequency or the manner or occasion of making them, are calculated to subject them or their family or household to alarm, distress or humiliation. It does not cover anything reasonable and otherwise permissible in law done to secure payment, or to enforce a liability by legal process, or a commercial practice towards a consumer within the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

If you do not keep to the terms of a County Court Judgment, the creditor can ask the court to enforce the debt by bailiff action, a Charging Order or an Attachment of Earnings Order. Always turn up to a court hearing: it gives you the chance to come to an agreement.

First steps to take right now

List all your debts

Write down everything you need to pay for: household bills, insurance, credit or store cards, loans, overdrafts, car finance and money borrowed from family and friends. Note how much and when you pay, plus how much you still have left.

Do a budget

MoneyHelper's free Budget planner uses your details to give you a breakdown of your finances and personalised tips. Debt usually costs far more than savings pay, so spare cash is better used to reduce or pay off debt.

Contact a free debt charity

Speak to a debt adviser before you agree to make payments to anyone you owe money to.

Contact your priority creditors

Every council has a scheme to help you manage Council Tax payments, so contact yours as soon as possible. Tell your landlord or housing association as soon as you know you cannot pay rent on time, and contact your mortgage lender as soon as possible too.

Loan sharks often use social media to find borrowers. MoneyHelper says this is illegal and could cost you a lot more than you think, and you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service if things go wrong. If you are already struggling, avoid taking cash out on a credit card: your credit score takes a hit, and you pay unavoidable interest and sometimes a fee.

Where to go next

Frequently asked questions

How do I list my debts and start managing debt?

How can I clear my debts or settle for less?

If you have a lump sum that covers part of your debts, you could ask creditors whether they would accept a part payment and write off the rest. Writing off debts is possible in exceptional circumstances, when you have no available income, savings or assets. Free, confidential and independent advice can help you decide which route fits.

How do I talk to creditors about debt negotiation?

Providers must offer you a range of support options, and the sooner you talk to them the better. You might agree an informal arrangement: payments based on what you can afford after essential household outgoings, with a request to freeze interest and charges. Some debt advisers can speak to the court, bailiff or creditor on your behalf.

What is a priority debt?

A priority debt carries the most serious consequences if you do not pay it. They can include court fines, Council Tax or Rates, TV Licence, Child Maintenance, gas and electricity bills, Income Tax, National Insurance and VAT, mortgage, rent and any loans secured against your home, and missed payments owed to DWP or HMRC.

Can I go to prison for debt?

The general rule in section 4 of the Debtors Act 1869 is that no person shall be arrested or imprisoned for making default in payment of a sum of money. The exceptions include default in payment of a penalty and default in payment of any sum recoverable summarily before a justice or justices of the peace. For unpaid Council Tax in England, a magistrates' court can only issue a warrant committing someone to prison if it is of the opinion that the failure to pay is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect, and the term shall not exceed 3 months. For a court fine, the court must be satisfied that the default is due to wilful refusal or culpable neglect and have considered or tried all other methods of enforcing payment. The exception is an offence punishable with imprisonment where the offender has sufficient means to pay the sum forthwith.

What free debt help is available in the UK?

You can get free, confidential and independent advice on debt problems. GOV.UK lists National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, Citizens Advice on 0800 144 8848 in England, 0800 702 2020 in Wales and 0800 028 1456 in Scotland, PayPlan on 0800 280 2816 and StepChange Debt Charity on 0800 138 1111.

What is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)?

An IVA is an agreement with your creditors to pay all or part of your debts through an insolvency practitioner. It applies to all your creditors, including any who disagreed to it. It usually lasts five or six years, and there are usually 2 fees: a set up fee and a handling fee each time you make a payment.

Can creditors take money from my wages or benefits?

With a County Court Judgment, a creditor can ask the court for an Attachment of Earnings Order, which asks for the money owed to be deducted by your employer from your wages. Unpaid Council Tax could lead to wage or benefits deductions, and unpaid court fines to money being taken from your wages or benefits. DWP can take money from your wages or pass a debt you owe it to a collection agency.

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Know Your Rights UK. "Dealing With Debt: Where to Start." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/debt/dealing-with-debt