Soar Valley Community Money Advice

We will help you get your finances under control, for free

If you’re trapped in debt and can’t find a way out, we’re here to help

Soar Valley CMA is a local debt advice service offering free, impartial and confidential support.  It is open to anyone who needs help managing their money or who has got into debt. Being in debt can cause significant stress in your household which can impact your mental health, relationships and ability to function. We are here to help so please do not be embarrassed to ask for help.

If you need help please call or text 07743 765 958 or email soarvalleycma@gmail.com

We will meet with you and:

Soar Valley CMA is licensed to give debt counselling

The debt advice process

We will start by talking through your circumstances with you, gather your contact details and any essential information and then we will work through the following steps. These may take several appointments, but we will be here for you every step of the way, for as long as you need us.

  1. Any advice begins by looking at your income, making sure you are claiming everything you may be entitled to. We will also discuss any other options you may have to bring in additional income to your household.
  2. We will then move on to looking at all your essential bills and things you have to pay i.e. your regular expenditure. We will look to see if there is anything you can do to reduce areas of your expenditure. Where possible, we will highlight and help to reduce any item of expenditure that might be considered unusually high.
  3. The next stage will be to look at your debts and sort them into priority and non-priority debts. Priority debts are those that have the biggest consequences if you don’t pay them. These will be dealt with first.
  4. Non-priority debts will then be looked at and a Standard Financial Statement – a single sheet showing the results of steps 1 to 4 – will be produced and given to you, as well as a copy being sent to all your creditors so they are aware of your exact financial circumstances.
  5. Once the financial statement has been drawn up, the different options available to you, given your circumstances, will be discussed with you and a decision made as to the best way forward.
  6. If you decide a debt management plan is the best option, we will contact your creditors and negotiate any reduced payments and help you to set up repayments from your bank, building society, or credit union account. If you don’t have access to an account, we will help you to set up or change accounts to ensure you can make any repayments negotiated.

Debt solutions

If you owe people money, there are a variety of ways you can deal with it. Your options will depend on the amount of disposable money and assets you have. These are some of the options that may suit you, but we encourage everyone to meet with us so we can fully assess your circumstances and identify the most appropriate solution.

Debt Management Plans

A DMP is an agreement between you and your creditors to repay your debts. You make regular payments either direct to your creditors or make a single monthly payment to an authorised debt management company.

Administration Orders

An Administration Order is a way to deal with your debts if you have a County Court or High Court Judgments against you and you can’t pay in full. Your total debts must be less than £5,000. You make one monthly payment to your local court. The court will then divide this money between your creditors.

Individual Voluntary Arrangements

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is an agreement with your creditors to pay all or part of your debts. You agree to make regular payments to an insolvency practitioner (IP), who will divide this money between your creditors. You will need to have a reasonable amount of disposable income and/or assets that can be realised to take into an IVA.

Debt Relief Orders

Debt Relief Orders (DROs) are one way to deal with your debts if you owe less than £30,000, have little spare income and don’t own your home.

Apply for bankruptcy

All bankruptcy applications are now made online and to be eligible, you must not meet the criteria for any other form of insolvency. An adjudicator will look at the application and a decision will be made within 6 weeks or less. Providing the adjudicator is happy the criteria is met, they will make a bankruptcy order and appoint an Official Receiver to administer your bankruptcy.

Offer in full and final settlement

If you have a lump sum available that would cover part of your debts, you can ask your creditors if they would accept a part payment and write off the rest. Alternatively, they may allow you to make monthly payments for a set period after which any amount outstanding is then written off.

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Tim Jackson
Debt reduction expert

Tim has had a successful career in finance. In 2013 he left that career to set up the debt advice centre and followed that by helping establish the Food Project. Became a Trustee in 2020 when Soar Valley Outreach was established.

How to access help

Please ring, text or fill in the form

By Phone:

Call us on 07743 765 958.

By Text:

Text 'DEBT HELP' giving your name and postcode to 07743 765 958.

Email:

Email soarvalleycma@gmail.com with your name, the problem you are facing, your contact details and when you'd like to see us.

Online form:

Fill out the confidential, secure form below.

    First name *

    Last name *

    Email address *

    Telephone *

    Message

    Our opening hours are:

    Mondays: 9am – 12 noon
    Wednesdays: 1pm to 4pm

    Meetings can be arranged at other times at our offices, or we can make home visits if neccessary.

    Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority