Borrowing
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If it's getting on top of you

Borrowing that's got hard to keep up with is common, and it's sorted out more often than not if you recognise it and do something about it. Ignoring it is the worst thing you can do. This page points you to the people who provide help and advice for a living, for free.

Free debt advice exists, and it's the right door

Charities give it for nothing, in confidence, and you don't have to be in crisis to ask.

A debt adviser looks at everything you owe and everything coming in, works out what you can really afford, and can deal with the people you owe for you. That's the whole job, done every day.

Their phone numbers and opening hours are on Money worries, with who to talk to if the worry isn't only about money. "I think I'm heading for trouble" is a perfectly good reason to ring.

Telling your lender early doesn't harm your credit file

Talking to them won't affect your file. Missing payments will.

The regulator expects a lender to give support suited to your circumstances if you're struggling. That can mean smaller payments for a while, a longer time to pay, or, in some cases, a pause. A lender is also expected to consider cutting, pausing or dropping interest and charges.

None of that is automatic, and none of it is a promise about your case. But the FCA is plain about one thing: talking to your lender won't affect your credit file. An arrangement you agree will show on your file. So would missed payments, and the two aren't read the same way.

If a lender doesn't treat you fairly, you can complain to it, and if it hasn't answered within eight weeks, or you don't accept its answer, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman, for free.

The bills that matter most aren't always the ones chasing hardest

Debt advisers call them priority debts, because not paying them has the most serious consequences.

Rent or mortgage, council tax, gas and electricity, court fines, and hire purchase on something you need, such as a car you drive to work. Fall behind on these and you can face bailiffs, have your supply cut off, or lose your home.

A credit card or a pay-later plan can feel more urgent, because those are often the firms sending the letters and texts. The order a debt adviser works in is about what happens if a bill isn't paid, not about who's loudest. They aren't always the biggest debts or the ones with the highest interest.

There's a legal pause, and a debt adviser can start it

Breathing Space stops interest, charges and most action on your debts for up to 60 days, in England and Wales.

Breathing Space, the Debt Respite Scheme, is a legal protection. For up to 60 days, the people you owe can't add interest or charges to the debts it covers, can't take enforcement action, and can't contact you about them. Your repayments are still due during that time.

It's started by a debt adviser, not by you directly, and it's free to apply. It can't be used again within 12 months. There's a much stronger version for anyone receiving mental health crisis treatment, and Money worries explains it.

This page won't tell you what to do about your own debts

That needs someone who can see all of them. That's what a debt adviser is for.

I can explain how borrowing works. But I don't know your personal situation. Get advice about your own debts, from someone who can look at your whole picture, for free.

Lenders' duties from the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman; priority debts from MoneyHelper; Breathing Space from GOV.UK. Facts last checked October 2026. I check them every month, to catch rates and rules that change.