Bright Oak is a private company specializing in providing high-quality free debt advice to individuals in the UK. Bright Oak also enables its’ clients to access a wide variety of debt solutions. We are committed to providing information to all who are, or who may in the future become, involved in the rapidly increasing degree of difficulties caused by personal debt in the UK.
Such information is vital at a time when it is being reported that one in three consumers are unaware of how much debt they’re paying back each month and how much they owe in total. Nearly eight million adults claim to only review their finances once a year or less, and nearly two million state they never review their finances at all.
Despite a massive increase in media attention to this issue, our research has revealed the absence of freely available guides to the wider debt situation written in a way to be of benefit to those who are struggling with repayments.
On balance we believe that credit and the credit-industry have provided overwhelmingly positive benefits to most people and to the economy as a whole. There are many people however touched by the darker side of debt. They deserve help and a second-chance.
We have extensively researched the current extent of personal debt in the UK, how we got here, factors that turn manageable levels of borrowing into unmanageable problems, who’s suffering, who can help and how, and finally how the situation may develop in future months and years.
It’s hoped that the information contained might be of interest to many people, but in particular we hope that it might be of benefit to those experiencing the uncomfortable difficulties that over-indebtedness can cause.
We hope also that our research will be of value to anyone with friends or family-members struggling to manage debt. As such, please feel free to share this document as you wish.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1 – The UK debt environment
Chapter 2 – When good debt goes bad
Chapter 3 – Consequences of over-indebtedness
Chapter 4 – Sources of help and advice
Chapter 5 – Common debt solutions
Chapter 6 – The future?
