• Managing your money
• If you do not keep to your repayment agreement
• If you fall behind with your Council Tax payments
• If you fall behind with fuel payments
• Benefits Calculator
• More advice

Managing your money

Everyone has to manage their money, but if you get into debt or fall behind with payments of any kind, here are some helpful steps you can take.

1. Never ignore the problem – it will not go away.
2. Don’t take out any further credit.  If you owe money, contact the lender as soon as possible and tell them about your financial situation.
3. Gather all the correspondence you have received about your debts and make a list of all the people you owe money to on a sheet of paper.  When you have done this, put your debts in order of priority.  A priority debt is one where serious action can be taken against you, for example:

• rent  or mortgage arrears – you could lose your home;
• fines – you could go to prison if you cannot keep up with your payments;
• electricity, gas and phone bills – your service might get cut off;
• Council Tax – money could be taken straight from your wages or your bank account could be frozen;
• TV licence – you are likely to get fined if you do not have one;
• hire-purchase payment – if you buy anything under a hire-purchase agreement, you could have it taken away from you if you do not keep up with the payments; or
• a court order – Sheriff Officers could be involved if you do not make the agreed payments.

Negotiate repayments on all your priority debts and then divide any money you have between any other debts that you have. If you are having problems paying your rent, you must contact your area housing officer as soon as possible. They will discuss the problem with you and offer practical advice. They will also work out a repayment agreement plan with you to help you pay off your arrears.

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If you do not keep to your repayment agreement

If our attempts to reach an agreement with you fail, or if you break an agreement we have reached to pay off your arrears, we may have to take further action. This could include taking legal action to make sure that you pay your rent. Before we take legal action, we will send out to you a ‘Notice of Proceedings’ for repossessing your home. This is like a final warning, which allows us to apply to the court (within six months) for permission to start taking the rent out of your wages or to evict you.  If we send you a ‘Notice of Proceedings’, we will give a copy of it to everyone in the house over the age of 16. If the situation does not improve, we may have to get permission from the Sheriff Court to end your tenancy.  In the worst case, the Sheriff may allow us to end your tenancy.

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If you fall behind with your Council Tax payments

If you have Council Tax arrears, you must contact our Revenues Section and arrange to pay current Council Tax and make regular payments towards any Council Tax arrears.

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If you fall behind with fuel payments

If you fall behind with fuel payments, contact your supplier and explain your financial situation.  They will expect you to pay current bills and make regular payments to reduce your arrears. There are various ways of paying which your fuel supplier will explain to you, including installing a card meter.

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Benefits Calculator

Our Web Benefits Calculator can help you get an instant on-line Benefits estimate

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More advice

You can get independent advice from a number of different people including:

Citizens Advice Bureau (This link opens in a new window)

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