Press Releases pre-May 2010

Snowed under with debt? Legal aid can help

27 November 2007

With just a month until Christmas the Legal Services Commission (LSC) is urging people to plan Christmas finances now to avoid a New Year debt crisis.

Figures* just released show the average Briton now owes £33,000 nearly double the debt levels of 2000, prompting concerns that over-borrowing by consumers could increase personal insolvencies in the new year.

Extra expenses at Christmas could break the bank for those already struggling with debt. A family on an average income spends £564 on the trimmings - food, drink, decorations and the like - on Christmas Day alone. And that figure doesn't include presents.

But legal aid pays for a free helpline, Community Legal Advice, where advisers can help people make a budget to pay for Christmas and still meet debt repayments. They can also advise you on your eligibility for tax credits or benefits.

John Sirodcar, Head of Direct Services said:

“Christmas debt can mean a choice between not eating or having the power cut off when the January bills arrive. Our debt helpline sees a huge spike in callers suffering from unmanageable debt in January - this doesn’t have to be the case.

Getting help with claiming the right benefits and professional help planning Christmas finances can avoid you becoming one of more than 6.6 million people already behind on payments.

James Partridge (not his real name) couldn’t afford to eat when his creditors pushed for higher monthly payments on his debts worth more than £30,000. He was threatened with a bailiff’s visit when he told two of his creditors there was no way he could increase payments.

“When I finally called my advisor I was frightened and upset. My creditors were pushing me for higher, sending threatening letters – and on my income there was no way. I couldn’t afford it. I’d already sent them my electricity money. I would recommend my adviser to anyone. She talked to everyone I owed money to and my bills came down to a fair level. I am on top of it now.”

Any family needs to budget for expensive times like Christmas but for families who will really feel the pinch it is essential to get the right advice now. Get help by calling: 0845 345 4 345 or visiting the Community Legal Advice website.

Community Legal Advice is the government’s free legal aid service that provides telephone and web advice that offers help on the problems including:

money and debt
housing and eviction
employment
education
advice on benefits, tax credits or welfare problems.

Media information

Please contact:

Michaela Keating (Tel: 020 7759 0444) LSC press office
Daniel Kellingley (Tel: 020 7759 0415) LSC press office.

Notes

Last January calls for debt help to the phone line doubled the calls logged for December.
The Family Welfare Association estimated that a family on an average income spends £564 at Christmas.
2.4 million children lived in low-income households in 2004/05.

* Figures are from the PWC report, Precious Plastic 2008, released 26 November

Facts about Community Legal Advice

Community Legal Advice is a free and confidential advice service paid for by legal aid.
80 percent of calls answered within 20 seconds. Callers who have a problem we can help with are connected to an adviser within minutes.
Open 9.00am-6.30pm Mon to Fri. Out-of-hours messages responded to within 24 hours.
Offer three way translation services in all languages plus Typetalk.
A quarter of clients are BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) and a fifth have a disability.
The cost to legal aid is 10-35% less than for the same help face-to-face.
Many callers helped still need some face-to-face assistance, and we direct these callers to quality assured providers, making the helpline a valuable gateway for providers. We refer people to non-legal aid funded services if legal aid cannot help.
Quality assured: specialists must obtain a peer review rating competence plus or excellence (the top two peer reviewed ratings of five).

We never charge. All help and advice is completely government funded. Calls cost no more than 4p per minute from BT landlines but calls from mobiles are usually more. People worried about call costs can have advisors call them back.

Community Legal Advice has lots of information leaflets that cover common legal problems. They explain the law and help you get the right advice. Read them on the Community Legal Advice website.

General information and legal factsheets are available in Welsh, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu.

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Last updated: 27/11/2007