CAB Advice – Seeking Debt Advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau

If your debt has spiralled uncontrollably to an unmanageable level and you are unsure where to turn, your local Citizens Advice Bureau may be a good place to start looking.

They are a charity, which means the advice you're given is impartial and unlikely to be prejudiced by any commercial considerations, the service they provide is free and there are CABs all over the UK. CAB is also a designated Competent Authority, which means it has been 'licensed' by the Home Secretary to propose Debt Relief Orders. However, not every CAB has a trained money advisor available in the branch, there are often inconsistencies between the advice given by different CABs and many CABs up and down the country have large waiting lists for appointments.

Whilst there is no question that the CAB has had funding and resource issues over the last few years, it is still a great institution and all in all, I believe the advice you're given is fair and impartial; I'd just double check it first with one of the specialist debt charities listed at the bottom of this article.
The CAB will initially select an advisor to deal with your enquiry; this may be at your local branch or in some instances further away due to the availability of debt advisors. Once the process has been initiated, it is important to be frank and honest about the situation you find yourself in as the advisor can only offer advice based on the information that you provided. Prior to your meeting be sure to collate the following information:

• Debts owed; how much and to which creditors.
• Debtor or lender correspondence, this may include payments requests and repossession warnings
• Bank statements, this will allow the advisor to build up a better picture of your monthly income and expenditure
• Proof of income, if you have a monthly income be sure to take wage slips as proof
• Debt History, what the loans and credit cards were originally used for and why the debt has now become unsustainable (job loss or loss of income, relationship breakdown, pregnancy, illness etc)
There are also CAB advice resources online in the guise of an advice guide (www.adviceguide.org.uk). As well as debt and money management, the guide also covers benefits, tax and consumer affairs.
If you're having difficulty getting an appointment at a CAB or want a 2nd opinion about the advice you've been given, call one of the following debt advice charities:

National Debt Helpline (0808 808 4000)
Debt Advice Foundation (0800 043 40 50)
CCCS (0800 138 1111)