Expert help and advice about debt

If you owe money (you are in debt) then the Debt Advice Team, which is part of the Welfare Rights and Debt Advice Service, can help you.

The Debt Advice Service gives free, confidential and expert debt advice. We help to make sure that people with debts know what action can be taken by people they owe money to, and what they can do to deal with the problem so they can decide which debts are most important.

We do this by giving advice on debt options and contacting people who are owed money to work out affordable repayments where possible.

The Debt Advice Service can help you if you live in Salford and need help with:

• Advice if you have a few different debts and can’t afford to pay them all.
• Going to court and speaking on your behalf or making applications to stop debt enforcement (this is when people you owe money to take legal action) – for example
  • If your social landlord or mortgage company takes action (you might receive a 'possession claim' or 'eviction notice') when you are behind with your rent or mortgage.
  • If other organisations you owe money to are taking court action and you need help showing the court what you can afford to pay (for example if you are having to deal with Enforcement Agents / bailiffs or Attachment of Earnings orders) or
  • If you have a court order for debt which asks you to pay more than you can afford we can help apply to reduce what you pay.

We also help with different ways to deal with your debt if you are not able to pay back your debts. We can help with things like bankruptcy and Debt Relief Orders which can write off your debts so you don’t have to pay anything back in some situations.

Most of our debt advisers are ‘Approved Intermediaries’ which means they are given permission to complete the forms and give advice on Debt Relief Orders. Debt Relief Orders are a way of dealing with your debts which allows you to stop making payments for 12 months and then if you are still not able to pay, writing your debts off so no further payments are needed.

All of our debt advisers can access the Breathing Space scheme. This scheme provides protection from the person you owe money to, so that they cannot take enforcement action for 60 days. This covers anything from stopping them sending you threatening letters to stopping bailiff and evictions from going ahead.

For people receiving mental health crisis care, Breathing Space may be available for longer than just 60 days.

This helps give you time to get advice on all of your options and decide what to do. We can make applications on your behalf where this is considered appropriate.

If you just owe money for consumer credit (in other words bank loans, credit cards, catalogues etc) and want to set up Debt Management Plans (where you agree with the companies you owe money to, to pay one lower regular amount off your debts), please contact a service which may be better able to help you such as National Debtline or Step Change.

Our service does not offer more general budgeting support to help you manage your money. This type of help is available from the government’s Money Helper website. If you have health problems which make managing your money more difficult, you can consider seeking help from Adult Social Care or via an assessment for care or support services.

We are not part of the Council Tax service in the council and we are able to offer completely impartial advice even on money you might owe to the council (including help identifying benefits and discounts to reduce your bill and writing off debt through help with Debt Relief Orders.

Because we are a separate service, if you need to make changes to your Council Tax account (for example telling them about a change or changing a payment date) you will need to contact the council tax department directly.

How do I refer myself or another person for debt advice?

This page was last updated on 26 November 2024