Debt advice
The mission of our debt advice service is to provide expert help to people who are in trouble with debts. They do not know how or cannot resolve their situation alone either due to a low level of education, lack of skills or simply a lack of information. The number of debtors who use this service is growing steadily. Debts no longer trouble just the poorest among us, but more than ever middle class people are falling into the debt trap too.
The legal aspects of this problem are extremely complex and few are actually able to cope without advice. Our debt advisors provide assistance to people at risk of financial problems and at the same time they look for solutions for those who are already in financial crisis. Their work follows up on field social work.
Debt advisors help people:
- Contact their creditors: Agree on instalment schedules or attempt to find alternative solutions that would gradually bring them out of the debt trap.
- Defend themselves against unfair behaviour of certain firms that provide financial services (Cases where a ten thousand crown loan becomes a debt of hundreds of thousands just due to penalties and penalty interest are not exceptional.)
- Solve problems with the bailiffs (Help consolidate separate distraint orders, dramatically reducing legal fee and the amount to be recovered by the bailiffs. Attempt to halt distraint proceedings underway on the basis of invalid arbitrators’ rulings.)
- Petition for bankruptcy, which discharges debts for those who pay at least 30 % of all of their debts over a period of five years’ duration of insolvency proceedings. (Perform initial monitoring of the client’s situation, communicate with the bankruptcy trustee or the court, help arrange legal aid, check on meeting deadlines set).
In addition to all this, our advisors motivate people towards an active solution of the stressful situation. They try to stop the client from feelings of resignation which is an understandable reaction to a problem which seems unsolvable at first. They help them with necessary paperwork and search for information from publicly available sources. They give professional consultations to widen their knowledge of their rights and obligations in relation to their case.
The large number of unlawful distraint proceedings underway where the bailiff sometimes attempts to recover debts that are contrary to accepted principles of morality and the debtors are completely unaware that they can appeal against this.
