Act now
The most important thing to do to prevent your debts spiralling out of control is to speak to all of your creditors (the people you owe money to). The longer you leave it before you speak to them, the worse the situation will become. Many creditors charge interest or fees to customers who are late with their payments, so the quicker you contact them, the sooner you can avoid these extra charges. Each creditor will have a different policy for helping customers who are in financial difficulty. However, most follow a similar process.
Our approach
At The Co-operative Bank, we first of all make sure that we understand your financial position. We can then work out the best way to help you. It will also help us if you have prepared a list of all your monthly income and expenditure. The Seeing Red document below may be able to help you with this. We will then be able to determine how much disposable income you have available. Your disposable income is the amount of money left over once you have taken away your living expenses and priority debts from your income.
As a first step towards overcoming your financial difficulties, call 0800 028 8696. Call charges. The lines are open from 8.00am to 8.00pm Monday - Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm Saturday and 10.00am to 6.00pm Sunday (Bank holiday opening hours may vary).
Please read this document for more information:
(Will open as a PDF in a new windows).
- Seeing Red (PDF - 0.3Mb)
