Debt Help Consolidation - priority debts advice.

Get Budgeting Help Priority debts, are debts owed to creditors who can take the strongest legal actions against you if you do not pay Money. It is not the size of the debt that makes it a priority debt but what the creditors can do to recover their money.

mortgage arrears - the mortgage lender can take court action for possession of your home

rent arrears - the landlord can evict you if you have rent arrears

income tax and VAT - you can be made bankrupt or imprisoned for non-payment of income tax or VAT

fines, such as magistrates court fines for traffic offences. If these are not paid, the court can use bailiffs to repossess your goods. If, after this, you still have arrears unpaid, you can be sent to prison

maintenance, child support or, council tax or rates. If these are not paid, a court can use bailiffs to repossess your goods. If, after this, you still have arrears unpaid, you can be sent to prison

fuel debts - if these are not paid you can have your fuel supply disconnected

hire purchase (sometimes called 'conditional sale') will be a priority debt if it is for an essential item, for example, if you have bought a car on HP and need the car to go to work.

If you have any of these debts, (Budgeting Money is the key) you must deal with them before you offer to repay any of your non-priority debts Get help.

credit card and store card arrears

catalogue arrears

bank overdrafts and loans

benefits overpayments

hire purchase (sometimes called 'conditional sale') will be a non-priority debt if it is for goods which are not essential to you, for example, a television bought on HP

money borrowed from family or friends.

You cannot be imprisoned for not paying non-priority debts. You are unlikely to lose your home or your essential goods. However, if you make no offers to pay, without explaining why, the creditors will take you to court. If you still fail to pay when the court has ordered it, the creditors can take further action - for example, they can get another court order allowing them to send bailiffs in.

You can negotiating with creditors but it can be difficult and may take a long time. The tacticts you use when you are negotiating will depend on a number of factors, such as whether you have both priority and non-priority debts, whether you have any assets you can sell, whether you have any available income, and whether your situation is likely to improve or not. Creditors will also want details of the income of your spouse or partner.

You need to be clear about what you want the creditors to agree to. You must be realistic about what you can offer - for example, if there is no prospect of you getting as job in the near future, you may only be able to offer very small amounts such as £1.00 a week, called 'token offers', to each of your non-priority creditors.

Priority Debts