Firstly, debt advice is free and impartial – you should never pay for it. It begins by assessing your incomings and outgoings, and from there, an advisor will tailor the advice to your personal situation. This may mean looking at a formal debt solution, adjusting your budget to make savings or recommending ways to access grants, benefits or other schemes that could bring someone more money each month.

Perhaps one of the most prominent concerns people have about debt advice is the impact it may have on their future finances and credit score. There’s often a misunderstanding that seeking debt advice or assessing your budget with a debt advisor can damage your credit score and impact your future ability to access credit. However, getting debt advice does not impact your credit score. While some debt solutions may, it’s likely that your credit rating will have already been impacted if you have defaulted on a debt. The key thing to remember is that if you are facing problem debt then the priority is not your future financial position, but your current one. What’s more, your credit score is not permanent, and you can work on it again

The crucial point here is that there is help for people out there and these barriers can and must be broken down. As the cost of living crisis continues, more and more people across Britain are seeing their finances squeezed more than ever before, with debt across not just typical lines of credit like loans and overdrafts, but across everyday essential bills. Debt advice can be truly lifechanging, and there is no harm in taking that first step to see what support is out there.

StepChange Debt Charity offers free and impartial advice to people struggling with debt. To get started visit stepchange.org and access the online debt advice tool, which is available 24/7. Debt advisors are available to support over the phone. Simply call 0800 138 1111.

“Experiencing debt can leave you feeling like there’s nowhere to turn – please know that help is here”