People who find themselves in debt need to take steps to actively manage their budget and take personal responsibility for their financial situation, an industry expert has said.
James Falla, director of Thomas Charles & Co, said that people in debt needed to be realistic about how much help banks could offer them and instead focus on how they could get themselves out of financial difficulty.
He added: "If you're in financial difficulty, I think you have to ask yourself what exactly you expect your bank manager to do for you?"In many cases, Mr Fella said that the bank would only provide "some templates to help you write down your budget".
"Ultimately once you know what's going in and what's coming out, the bank can't help you manage that budget, it's your own personal responsibility," he pointed out.In cases where a person discovered that their disposable income did not cover debts, Mr Fella said that a debt consolidation load could be a viable option.
"If you look at your monthly outgoings in terms of your debt and the outgoings add up to £600 but your disposable income is £450 then you absolutely could go to the bank and ask to consolidate your debt. The bank would explain to you whether that was possible or not."
Source: www.moneyhighstreet.com
