What to Do When You Can't Afford Your Monthly Repayments

If your repayments no longer fit comfortably alongside your living costs, the most useful first step isn't panic or avoidance — it's getting an honest, specific picture of your numbers.

1. Get a real total, not an estimate

List every debt, its monthly repayment, and your actual take-home income and essential expenses. It's uncomfortable, but a vague sense of “it's tight” makes it much harder to find the right next step than a specific number does.

2. Understand that you have more than one option

Depending on your situation, that might mean formal debt review (with legal protection, but a regulated process to follow), informal debt mediation (more flexible, but without statutory protection), or simply restructuring your own budget first. There isn't one correct answer that applies to everyone — it depends on your specific numbers.

3. Don't wait for the situation to get worse before acting

The earlier a genuinely unaffordable repayment structure is addressed, the more options tend to be available. Waiting until accounts are significantly in arrears narrows what can realistically be done.

4. Be cautious of guaranteed outcomes

Any legitimate assessment of your situation should be able to explain what depends on your circumstances and what depends on individual creditors agreeing to something — not promise a specific reduced payment or interest rate before that's actually been worked out.

5. Talk to someone before choosing a path

A short conversation with a consultant, working from your real numbers, is a far better basis for a decision than guessing between debt review and debt mediation from general information alone.