A lawyer responsible for
arguing a case in court either on behalf of a debtor, or a creditor.
Agent
A person who acts on behalf
of an individual or company, without usually being employed by them.
Arrears
Overdue payments on a credit
agreement.
Bad Credit
Describes someone who is
regarded by credit issuing companies as being high risk to lend to, due to
current or prior problems in paying bills.
Bad Debts
Debts which are regarded by
companies as being unpaid, and will unlikely to be paid.
Barrister
A lawyer who is entitled to
act in one of the higher courts.
Blacklisted
A term for someone who is
denied credit. In reality, there is no such thing as a "black list". Credit
decisions are made on a varying "credit score" basis. If you are denied credit
from one lender, you may be accepted by another, although the interest rates
might be higher.
CCJ
County Court Judgement
Creditor
A company or other body who
provides credit services, or who is owed money through other means.
Debt Consolidation
Bringing a number of debts
together into a single loan, in order to lower interest rates. Consolidation
loans are also usually repaid over a longer period of time, which makes monthly
payments much lower and affordable.
Debt Management
The process of taking
disciplined and controlled steps in to reduce the amount of debt owed to lenders
and creditors.
Debt Management Program
In most cases, debt
management involves joining a program which is administered by a debt management
company. This involves the company contacting your creditors to arrange lower
payment levels, and you making a monthly payment to the said company.
Debtor
A person who owes a debt,
due to non payment of bills.
Late Payment Fees
A fee charged by a credit
card company, or other creditors when a payment is late or in arrears.
Secured Loan
Any borrowing which is made
against an item of value. This is usually usually a home or property. If you
fail to make the payments, the creditor has the right to claim the property for
which the loan was secured against.
Unsecured Loan
Any borrowing which is not
made against any valuable items. Creditors have less ability to retrieve their
unpaid debts, and are therefore not likely to loan as much as they would on a
secured basis. These loans usually have higher interest rates.
