How to use this Handbook
This Handbook is produced:
•as a guide and training aid for the new debt adviser;
•as a reference work for those who undertake debt advice alongside other sorts of advice work or other professional disciplines – eg, social workers and housing officers;
•for the specialist debt adviser as a first step in accessing primary legislation and regulations;
•for the manager or purchaser of debt advice services to help understand and evaluate debt advice.
The subjects covered within debt advice are vast and could fill many volumes. In this Handbook, much detail has been deliberately excluded in order to make it accessible and to make clear the structure of debt work.
Most relevant legislation and court forms are now available online from legislation.gov.uk and www.justice.gov.uk respectively and are not therefore included in the Appendices. The Civil Procedure Rules are available online at www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil and many judgments of the higher courts are available free of charge from www.bailii.org. Most debt packages used in advice agencies include standard letters and forms, and so these are also not included in the Appendices. The standard financial statement is available at sfs.moneyadviceservice.org.uk. The Handbook can best be used as follows.
Training aid
The Introduction and Chapters 1 to 3 are written to assist those who are interested in debt advice, and outline the processes and skills involved. These should be read by new debt advisers and those who have done some of this work and would like to think more about the structure behind their practical experience. The chapters can also be used by those who commission or manage debt advice as a means of clarifying the product with which they are dealing.
New advisers should ensure they are familiar with the rules on consumer credit (explained in Chapter 4) and are able to identify each type of debt (explained in Chapter 5) because this is fundamental to using the rest of the Handbook. Maximising income is a key part of the debt advice process and this is summarised in Chapter 7. The new adviser will also need to be familiar with the criteria to be used in prioritising debts (Chapter 8). S/he will find it useful to skim through the different strategies for priority and non-priority debts (Chapters 8 and 9). These can be examined in detail as they arise in the course of advising.
The debt adviser
If you are already familiar with the processes of debt advice, you may wish to use Chapter 6 (minimising debts) and the strategy selection (Chapters 8 and 9) to help you think about the best strategy for a particular debt. This might include bankruptcy or an individual voluntary arrangement (these are discussed in Chapter 15). Court procedures are covered in Chapter 10 (general information on the county court), Chapter 11 (money-only claims), Chapter 12 (claims for possession of goods or property) and Chapter 13 (magistrates’ court). If the client is threatened with bailiff action, refer to Chapter 14. Specific debts are dealt with in Chapter 16 (business debts) and Chapter 17 (student debts). The index will enable you to find detailed information on a particular strategy, type of debt or court process. References can be accessed via the endnotes contained at the end of each chapter if you want more in-depth information about a particular topic. Details of other useful reference material and organisations are in the Appendices.