Summary:
Debt from ill health is one of the most commonplace causes of people seeking debt advice.
As during chronic illness people are unfit to earn or are dependant on social security, cash deficits can exacerbate create debt issues in many ways. Stress caused by financial issues is a primary contributing factor to health issues and it’s a matter of damage limitation.
The sort of help topics people are asking for includes: Free Debt Management Plans , Protected Trust Deeds, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s), bankruptcy advice, administration orders, general finance advice and Bankruptcy advice, general money management and budgeting, Free Debt Management Schemes and a general debt shelter.
Debt consultants generally spend more time with clients burdened with debt from poor health because they appreciate the particularly difficult times they are experiencing. There aim is to release clients from the strain of debt issues.
The causes for debt during illness are many and varied. The most common issues that lead to debt issues for those suffering from poor health are listed below:-
• The speed with which their income has dropped.
• When you are ill you tend to neglect finances.
• It can be increasingly difficult to resolve debt problems with clients whose health is deteriorating.
• Some clients get into money problems because they have more costs due to to their ill health.
• Respite care can be expensive
• Debts can be accumulated due to the additional expense of transport for treatment.
• Repaying debts can dramatically lower the family’s available funds and the reduction in profits due to sickness, makes the situation even worse.
• The illness will mean that carers have to be employed.
• The situation can be made all the worse if the main earner’s job is physical. It makes getting back to work slower.
• Similarly, problems related to mental health may force people to be off work for particularly long periods.
If you have to get a new employer even more difficulties develop. Although there are clear employment laws in the United Kingdom, some people with ill health often have debt issues because they’re unable work normal hours. For those with long term health difficulties, dependency on state benefits will make their financial issues much difficult to resolve. The problem is that some people suffering from health problems do not qualify for any benifits.
So what can you do? If you’ve already fallen behind on your payments, your lender will normally suggest methods to pay off your arrears gradually, together with your normal payments. And if you’re unable to meet these additional, you could possibly append them to your loan or postpone them for a while. It will mostly depend on your credit history. So pay as much as you can each month. Keep up frequent payments even if you have to stagger them as this shows that you are dependable then your lenders are more likely to treat you well and you could maybe reduce the arrears charges as well.
