Frequently Asked Questions

Not necessarily – you will only need to do this if you have outstanding debt with your own bank.

If you owe your own bank money and you cannot afford to pay them, they reserve the right to freeze your bank account at any time, or to take payments from your account.

We recommended you ask for a basic bank account or cash account. The types of accounts that banks offer change frequently, however our advisors keep up to date with all the latest policies, so they can answer any queries or suggest alternatives for you.

If you have a joint debt with another person then both you and the other individual are each liable for the whole amount of the debt.

For example, If Mr X and Mrs X have a joint debt for £15,000 and Mr X enters into an IVA, or goes bankrupt, then the creditor will chase Mrs X for the full £15,000.

Debt Support Service is fully licensed by the FCA and data protection act 2018. We understand your circumstances are personal, therefore we appreciate the sensitive nature of the information we hold, so our procedures and policies ensure confidentiality and security.

No, you never owe us any money nor are you tied in with us. We are here to help for as long or short as you want.

That depends entirely on what product is available to you. Based on the figures that you give us during your initial call we will give you an estimated time scale of how long we think it will take you to be debt free. Your situation will be reviewed every 12 months, and if you feel you can afford to pay more, you can increase your payments and become debt free in a shorter period of time. However, if you are struggling with the arrangement, we can lower the payments further; however this will increase the time scale of becoming debt free.

In our experience, creditors are prepared to accept reduced repayment offers where we are able to demonstrate that the offer we make is reasonable and you are committed to repay your debts. Debt Support Service has a great relationship with most high street lenders who generally accept our offers as we work within the industry guidelines.

Creditors can issue a default notice if you begin to miss your contractual payments. If you are experiencing some problems maintaining payments, your ability to borrow may already be affected. However, by coming onto our programme, we will ensure regular payments are made to the creditors.

It depends what option is open to you. Creditors are still entitled to contact you directly as a Debt Management Programme (DMP) is an informal arrangement, so we cannot guarantee that all letters and calls will stop immediately. Once you have shown commitment to our programme they should stop completely. If an IVA is suitable for you and is accepted then your creditors cannot chase you for payments through phone or post.

Debt Support Service will provide you with your own dedicated account manager who will be on-hand to answer any queries. They will send you a statement every month so that you can see where your money is going.

• Debit Card
• Standing Order
• Bank Giro Credit

You are free to stop the repayments at any time as you never sign a contract with us, but we ask that you provide notice so we can inform all of your creditors.

Debt Support Service will never ask you to tell your partner about your debt situation, although support is available if you wish to tell them. Your account will be data protected so we will only speak to whoever we have authority to on your file.