Frequently Asked Questions

Debt management started in Britain in the early nineties in response to the consumer debt situation and the economy's hangover from the late eighties.

As mortgage and loan repayments rose, many people found themselves with less disposable income, making saving for purchases impractical and less likely.

This developed the 'buy now, pay later' culture, as credit was widely available and made purchasing easier.

Poor financial education and money management resulted in many people being over-committed and unable to keep up their minimum payments to their creditors.

Debt management was developed to provide a solution to consumer debt, by negotiating with creditors to accept payment at a more affordable and realistic rate for borrowers.

Pre debt management

As personal debt problems on this scale were unprecedented in the UK, lenders did not have the infrastructure in place for an effective resolution, and resorted to legal action via the County Courts.

During the early to mid nineties the courts were inundated with applications from creditors for County Court Judgment's in order to recover unpaid debts. This resulted in huge back logs, and the County Courts were unable to effectively fulfill their core function of dispute resolution.

In the late nineties The Daily Express ran a series of debt related articles. Included were stories of negative experiences involving debt management companies, with an invitation to contact the Express with complaints.

The feature writer was Matt Kovak, who assured us that no complaints relating to Chiltern were received by the Express, in fact, included was the quote that "Chiltern could be used as a role model by other debt management companies".

The Debt Management Guidance, the first of such papers, was issued in December 2002.

Chiltern welcomed, and responded enthusiastically to this initiative, actively cooperating with The Office of Fair Trading, and making further investments in system and procedural changes to achieve compliance with the Guidance.

Chiltern has always recognised its responsibilities and maintained an awareness of our client's vulnerability.

In recognition of the poor practices of many Debt Management companies, Chiltern was instrumental in establishing the Trade Association D.E.M.S.A. (Debt Managers Standards Association).

This is the Trade Association established to set and maintain high standards in the Debt Management industry.

A basic tenet of the D.E.M.S.A. code is compliance with the OFT Guidance.

Trading Standards

In addition, Chiltern Debt Management has achieved the unique distinction of being invited to join  the Trading Standards Better Business Scheme, from the local office in Trafford.

Trading Standards Officers are often asked to recommend suppliers of services and must ensure that companies who benefit from such referrals operate to exacting standards.

The Trading Standards told us that they had no complaints registered against Chiltern.

They also carried out independent reviews on past and present clients to determine levels of consumer satisfaction.

Debt Councilor of the Year

At a recent Industry Awards dinner, our customer service manager, Joanne brookes, was designated Debt Councilor of The Year. A well deserved award, for which we are all justifiably proud.