It has been a tough time so far this year for many families and home owners as far as their finances are concerned, particularly for those with loans and mortgages.
It has been increasingly difficult to obtain any new type of credit over the past few months and with the economy slowing down and the cost of living going through the roof, many individuals are finding that their regular take home pay is being stretched to the limit and for some this has reached breaking point, with increasing numbers of arrears and defaults arising on borrowers personal loans and mortgages.
Now the Government has announced a plan to try and help those individuals who are finding difficulty with their finances at the present time. The Financial Capability Action Plan is intended to provide a free advice service and assistance to help people manage their finances in a better way and equip them to cope with the increasing cost of food, fuel and debts and is being developed alongside the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) plan to keep people better informed and become more confident and knowledgeable with regard to money matters, loans, credit cards and other debts.
The main feature of the plan will be to develop an all-encompassing money advisory website, which will be based on the FSA’s moneymadeclear site and will provide information on a range of topics from advice on loans and mortgages, to debt counselling and advice on utility bills and a first time home buyer advice service. The action plan will be developed over the summer, with additional services such as budgeting and money management advice becoming available next year. There will also be a focus on schools, with basic money matters and financial education being taught to children and young people.
This is clearly good news for the future of the nation’s financial well-being, as anything which offers help and advice to those who may be facing financial difficulties has to be welcomed. However, for many borrowers who are currently struggling to keep up with their loan, credit card and mortgage repayments and may already be in arrears or have defaulted on their debts, as is often the case in these situations, the help may have arrived too late.
