There are many options available to help get debt back under control. Whether your cash flow issues are temporary or more permanent, expert help is on hand to guide you back to a more manageable position.

One of the key things to remember is not to wait too long. Debt will not go away or solve itself. It needs positive action on your part to get back in control. There are many sources of information to help you assess your situation and choose what options may be right for you. Many of the debt solutions companies on the internet offer advice and help. The Citizens Advice Bureau offers free debt counselling and can also point you in the right direction if you personal relationships are being adversely affected by debt issues.

If you do not have an enormous amount of debt then one option could be to look at your lifestyle and see what changes can be made to get additional income into the home. This may be through a second part time job or by selling some possessions that you no longer need.

More hardcore debt requires positive action. Contacting your creditors to arrange a voluntary variation to the payments is a good starting point. However, this is usually an informal arrangement and the lender has the option to cancel the arrangement at any time and revert to the original terms. Therefore, if you believe it is only a short term or temporary respite that is needed, this form of voluntary debt management plan may work.

Voluntary debt management plans are time consuming and not ideal for long term debt management. If your debt problem is hard to bring under control, you may need to consider a more formalised arrangement with your creditors regarding how your debt is to be paid. This is referred to as a Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).

Under an IVA you need to get at least 75% by value of your creditors to agree to a variation in your payments and a writing off of some of their loan. This can be a difficult feat to achieve but there are many debt solutions companies that provide experienced and skilled personnel to work with you to come up with acceptable plans to the lenders. The advantage is that, once agreed, the terms cannot be changed and the creditors cannot pursue you further. Provided you keep up the payments as per the agreed IVA plan, then you will emerge at the end debt free and with a clean sheet to start again. Although any assets that you have will need to be reviewed, you will not automatically lose your home but may need to remortgage it to release any spare equity that has arisen since the mortgage was taken out.

Although your credit history will have been adversely affected, the terms of the IVA are not published and you need not tell your employer. In that respect, it is a personal and private arrangement between you and your lenders. There will be a plan manager appointed - which may be the debt solutions company that you choose to use to get the plan agreed.

If you default under an IVA then it may well lead to bankruptcy. The consequences here are more serious and will almost certainly lead to the loss of your home. Therefore, once agreed, you should try as hard as possible to keep up with the terms of the IVA or work with your plan administrator to get any further revisions.

Browse a range of useful websites about IVA's.