Money Advice
Student Support
More information can be found on the University’s main site.
Coping with Debts
The first thing to do is to make sure you are getting all the money you are entitled to. If necessary contact The Advice Centre staff to check this for you.
Rent Arrears
Rent is your biggest priority. Never, ever skip this months rent becasue you think you’ll catch up next month. You won’t. Nothing is more important than the roof over your head. Don’t kid yourself that the landlord can’t really make you homeless. If you fall behind with your rent you are putting yourself at risk of eviction.
Having said that, you do have some rights as a tenant – your landlord has to go through a set legal procedure in order to evict you, and you’ll probably find you have some time to sort things out. If you are worried, call into The Advice Centre for a confidential chat with one of the Advice Workers.
If you are struggling with your accomodation costs, and you’re getting all the student loan you are entitled to, you might be entitled to some help from the HEI Hardship fund. Ask at the Registry or call into the Advice Centre for an application form.
Council Tax Arrears
Most students won’t be paying any council tax, but those of you who are need to know that it’s another priority. Glasgow City Council takes a dim view of people who don’t ‘Pay Up For Glasgow’, and you can find previous years’ arrears coming back to haunt you long after you’d forgotten about them. The Council has all sorts of powers to recover money wothout having to go through the normal court hearing, and this can include freezing your bank account or demanding a cut of your wages direct from your employer.
If you are eligible for Council Tax exemption, make sure you get your exemption form stamped by the Registry and sent or handed in to the Council a soon as possible.
Utilities Arrears
Gas bill, electricity bill, phone bill... It’s important to budget for all these things, and work out whether you are going to pay a set amount monthly or hope to scrape the money together every quarter when the bill comes in. It might be useful to nominate one person to deal with each type of bill, so that you avoid “I thought you’d paid it", “Well, I thought you did” – type conversations.
make sure you are clear about the rules right from the start – if somebody is hardly ever in the flat are they still expected to contribute an equal share? Will you be going through the phone bill with a highlighter pen or just split it equally and hope no-pne’s taking advantage?
If you are having trouble keeping up with bills, try talking to your suppliers – most of them will do their best to help you if you show that you are being responsible and dealing with the problem before things get out of control. You might be able to negotiate lower monthly repayments, or you might find out that you’ve been on too high a tariff all along...
make sure that you read the meters at least at the beginning and end of your stay. If a bill or statement comes in based on an estimated reading, check it – you may be overpaying or you may be underpaying and will be landed with a bigger bill next time.
Being charged for not paying by Direct Debit? Send a letter of protest to your utility company.
Consumer Debt
Bank loans, overdrafts, credit cards, store cards, catalogues, credit arrangements, hire purchase agreements. All of these are ‘consumer debt’ and you will probably have atleast one of them at some point. If you are shopping around for credit make sure you check the APR figure which is designed so you can compare the cost of different sources of credit.
Usually store cards have a fairly high APR, credit cards a bit lower, bank loans lower still. Some catalogues and credit agreements are interest free, provided you pay within a certain period.
Whatever you do, have a realistic idea of your budget and how much you can really afford in repayments, before you sign up to anything.
Debt you don’t owe
In general, unless there is ‘joint and several liability’, you are not liable for anyone else’s debt, unless you signed an agreement jointly with the other person. If you are receiving letters about money you don’t think you owe, ask the credit company for a copy of the original credit agreement, so that you can check whether you’ve signed it. Don’t admit liability until you’ve checked this out and, preferable, sought advice.
You might want to check your credit rating to see if it has been affected by other people at your address. The Advice Centre has useful leaflets on this topic, and our advice workers can also give you information and guidance. For other web-based advice try http://www.adviceguide.org.uk or http://www.scottishdebtline.co.uk.
Debt you can’t pay
If credit companies are looking from repayments from you and you don’t have the money right now, it is tempting to borrow from elsewhere to cover the debt, but this can just mean that you are digging yourself in deeper and deeper.
If you have taken on too much, or if your circumstances have changed since you took out the credit in the first place, the best thing you can do is talk to your creditors. You may be able to negotiate reduced repayments for a period of time. Make sure if you are going to do this that any repayment offers are realistic – if you make promises you can’t keep, your creditors will be less helpful next time round. If your creditors are hassling you or if you don’t have the confidence to speak to them yourself, call into The Advice Centre for help.