Having creditors contacting you, or losing your job, or having to cut back on spending can place huge pressures on individuals and families.

The most important thing to remember is that there is rarely nothing that you can do. The income management and and consumer rights pages can give you options to help reduce the stress and worry of your current situation.

We all act differently under pressure or stress;

• Some of us get angry, and we need some ways to resolve our arguments.
• Financial difficulty can put a strain on our relationships, and sometimes it leads to family violence.
• We struggle being a dad.
• Sometimes we get scared and start to feel depressed, or experience anxiety, or extreme mood swings going from feeling really low to feeling really great.
• At times these feelings of being overwhelmed can lead to thoughts of suicide.

None of these things make you a bad person; in fact they are a warning from your body that you are finding it hard to juggle everything that is going on in your life at present.

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For many reasons, friends and family may find themselves in financial difficulty. Making the decision to help someone can be attached to all sorts of emotional ties and obligations. Make sure you can afford this.

Relationship debt (sometimes known as sexually transmitted debt) happens when a person agrees to go guarantor on a loan – be responsible for someone else’s debt. The other person is usually a family member.

Wanting to help a family member is part of what it means to be in a family. However before you agree to co-sign or be a guarantor on a loan you need to carefully consider the following:

• A creditor does not ask for this unless they think the person applying for credit is a risk, which means that they don’t think the person will be able to make all the payments on the loan.
• Do you know how the money obtained from the loan will be used?
• Why do they need this loan?
• Do you know how much is being borrowed, the interest rate, repayment amounts and term of the loan?
• Is the loan a secured or unsecured debt?
• If the repayments stop can you afford the repayments?
• Have you had a solicitor read the contract?

Most importantly if the person applying for the credit stops making the payments you will become responsible to do so. NEVER GO GUARANTOR ON A LOAN IF YOU COULD NOT MAKE THE REPAYMENTS BY YOURSELF.

Click here for further information on guarantees.

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