A new campaign designed to curb dangerous borrowing habits and tackle loan sharks has been set up by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). They are striving to combat notorious loan shark black-spots in order to limit their influence on vulnerable people who feel trapped by the burden of their mounting bad debts.

The financial services watchdog has released a statement that paints a worrying picture of the most at risk portion of UK borrowers. The OFT has warned that somewhere in the region of 165,000 British households find themselves at the mercy of illegal money lenders. The vast majority of those in the grip of loan sharks live in the most deprived parts of the country are many view themselves as outside the system of support designed to solve these serious debt problems.

So far, the OFT has been running a successful “Stop Loan Sharks” campaign and has managed to help somewhere in the region of 12,000 people to escape the grip of these unscrupulous lenders. This activity has thus far resulted in illegal lending to a value in excess of £30million being written-off and jail terms for the loan sharks amounting to over 60 years.

This is just the beginning though, as the OFT aims to build on their successful campaign with an online video and a nationwide poster and leaflet promotion. The bottom line is that anyone and everyone in the business of lending money must have a consumer credit licence. For those people who are facing the stress of mounting debt and feel that they are left with no option but to use a loan shark, the Office of Fair Trading have a message for them too; you are not breaking the law by borrowing from a loan shark, they are. As such, vulnerable borrowers do not have to fear any legal recrimination.

In the UK, the problem of unlicensed, unscrupulous loan sharking is extremely serious. Although it may at first appear to be easy access to cash in difficult financial circumstances, it can turn very nasty, very quickly. In areas of significant financial depression, with whole communities finding themselves trapped in the spiral of bad debt, loan sharks can use this vulnerability to excerpt control over desperate families. It shouldn’t come to this though. There are trusted financial institutions that can offer help and advice to those struggling with bad debt. Harrington Brooks are one of the longest established in the UK and can help you to repay your debt at a level which is affordable to you.

If you have been the victim of a loan shark, call 0300 5552222, text “loan shark” to 60003 or email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk Remember, you’ve done nothing wrong. The buck stops with the illegal lender.

A recent article in the Telegraph outlined figures suggesting that the average pensioner will need a retirement fund in excess of twice the current state pension if they are to afford the basic, everyday expense of food, clothes and fuel. Compared to five years ago, the average pensioner’s annual expenditure is a third more than it was and those who are approaching retirement age are set to be caught between these mounting living costs and a diminishing value of the state pension.

It is now generally accepted that, without a substantial subsidiary saving to go along with your state pension, your retirement years are going to be almost unaffordable. The concept of funding your retirement with credit is also a rather daunting prospect, as is the amount of debt we carry into retirement, as our means to pay it off are severely limited. As such, we’ll be much less attractive a proposition for any prospective lenders and will therefore have to pay greater rates of interest. There’s also the rather morbid truth that lower rates but longer repayment periods won’t really work for pensioners, as time begins to become a factor. Ultimately though, you could be looking at 30 years of surviving on a pension.

Figures outlined in the article suggested that for 20 years of retirement, the average retired couple will need somewhere in the region of £600,000. This staggering amount is based on an annual household expenditure in excess of £23,000 for those aged 65 to 74 and about £15,000 for those aged 75 and over. As little as five years ago, these figures were substantially lower than they are today, at around £18,000 and £12,000. At the more expensive end of the market, a couple living in London will need to find nearer £700,000 for the same 20 year period. There are big changes in cost of living depending on the region in which you live. As a result, it’s expected that a large number of people will relocate to cheaper areas for their retirement.

A basic state pension, at a current value of £97.65 per week, amounts to £10,155 a year for a retired couple. This is a stark warning that, for the vast majority of people, the state pension is just not going to be enough to live on when you reach retirement age. On top of this, further studies suggest that people are entering retirement with an average debt of £36,000. This includes their credit card debt, secured and unsecured loans, mortgages and overdrafts.

The moral of the story seems to be to save up, supplement your state pension and pay off your debts before you reach retirement. All three are far easier said than done, particularly in the current financial climate. It’s important to get help and advice from a debt specialist who’ll be able to help assist you in settling your outstanding debt in an affordable and timely manner. Get in touch with one of the dedicated debt specialists at Harrington Brooks for more information on how you can achieve this goal of a debt free retirement.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has come out with a recommendation that Banks should begin to offer current accounts that give their customers the option to opt out of an overdraft facility, rather than having one as standard. It considers this to be an important factor in many individual’s slide into debt. Rather than viewing this facility as an emergency resource to help them manage their direct debits and other outgoings, many enter the red with the best of intentions but fail to bounce back out again. In fact, 1 in every 10 people in the UK is permanently overdrawn and accruing the extra bank charges that go with it. A further 12% depend on their overdraft facility at least 5 times in the year and half of us need to use it at least once. So, there is no denying that it can be a valuable resource but it can also be a costly contributor to your debt problem.

The OFT are also keen to see a reassessment of the fees and bank charges that consumers face for their unarranged overdraft. These charges are gradually coming down though. For example, a bounced payment, when you don’t have the funds in your account to cover an expense, used to cost a further £34 on average, now it’s down to about £17. However, some have accused the OFT of taking too soft a stance on bank charges and not doing enough to safeguard consumer interest.
In response to these claims, the OFT reiterated their view that continued monitoring of personal current accounts is effecting significant change in bank’s practice and in the market as a whole. The industry is suffering from rock-bottom consumer confidence in the wake of the recession and is therefore committed to change.

The Office of Fair Trading have outlined a clear goal; a current account market where banks make the necessary information available to customers at the right time. Therefore, making it easier for people to control their finances. Solving the problem of mounting debt hinges on getting your personal finances under control. It highlights how important it is for the individual account holder to use this information to manage their account carefully and even take it to another bank if there’s a better deal to be had.

If you are struggling to repay your unsecured debt, a debt management plan can help you to take control of your finances and allow you to repay your debt with a reduced monthly payment which is affordable to you. Drawing up a detailed budget can help you to recognise the areas where you can cut back too. It’s a good idea to talk to a debt management specialist who has the experience to guide you through the process. Visit www.harringtonbrooks.co.uk for more information.

A Debt Management Plan is designed to help people who are becoming overwhelmed by their variety of unsecured debts. Unsecured debt means things like your overdrafts, personal loans and outstanding credit and store card balances. That is, those outstanding debts that are not secured against an asset, like your mortgage or car finance.

So, if your total value of unsecured debt is somewhere between £2,000 and £15,000 you could find that a debt management plan is a great way to solve your debt problem. Of course, everyone faces different financial circumstances and their debt solution should be tailored to suit their situation. That’s why it’s so important to talk to a specialist debt advisor, as they have the experience to take you through the various debt solutions on the market. If your unsecured debt amounts to more than £15,000 you could find an IVA to be more suitable than a debt management plan.

Debt Management is an informal agreement between you and your unsecured creditors, in which you make a single monthly payment that’s then divided between them. A well established debt management company will ideally be able to negotiate with your creditors and work hard to reduce or freeze any additional charges or interest, but this cannot be guaranteed. Harrington Brooks are one of the longest established and most respected financial institutions in the UK. They have cultivated long-standing relationships with the vast majority of creditors and are therefore ideally placed to negotiate charges on your debt. As part of the agreement, they’ll position themselves between you and your creditors, meaning you shouldn’t have to deal with the calls and letters demanding payment

Debt Management is about regaining control over your finances. Companies like Harrington Brooks can help you to work out how much you can realistically afford to pay each month and distribute the repayments fairly to your creditors. This means that you can arrange the monthly payment at a time that suits you. The burden of mounting debt can be overwhelming and having the support of a trusted professional can make the process far less stressful.

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The sad fact is that there are a lot of people in the UK that don’t actually know the total amount of debt that they are facing and the hard fact of their growing debt problem can make for a shocking revelation.

Having a clear understanding of how much you owe is integral to tackling the burden of bad debt. Likewise, knowing who you owe the money to should not be a mystery. You should also know exactly what the interest rate is that you are currently being charged. Taking responsibility for your level of personal debt and striving to manage your finances better is the first step to debt freedom and although it may be painful to face up to the extent of the problem, it is hugely liberating to take it on. So, write it down, see the problem laid out in detail, in black and white. If that doesn’t get you motivated to pay off your debts, you’re in trouble.

When you know what you owe, you can start to come up with a plan to pay it off. For starters, you can work out exactly how much you can afford to pay each month and decide on how best to use that money to free yourself from debt as quickly as possible. If credit card debt is the root of the problem, you need to understand that clearing it off might require some sacrifice. Pay more than the minimum each month and adjust your monthly budget to accommodate for the increased repayment amount.

Once you’ve worked out how much you can afford to pay, you need to decide how you’re going to go about paying the debt off. You can Snowball the debts by singling out the biggest, paying the minimum to the rest and throwing everything else you’ve got at it. As the debt comes down, so will the interest but if you keep the payments high, it’ll disappear faster and faster. Once that card is paid off, go to the next one in the line and use the same snowballing method on that. Paying off your debt in this way is much easier than trying to settle your debts all at once. It’s all about being determined, sticking to your task and hitting that target debt hard, until it disappears.

Clearing your credit card debt is not easy. It will be difficult but it will also be rewarding, both financially and psychologically. There’s no need to tackle it alone either. Talk to a dedicated debt advisor at Harrington Brooks who will be able to suggest the best debt solution to suit your personal, financial situation. Use the free, no obligation debt wizard at www.harringtonbrooks.co.uk to help you find a fast route out of debt.