Persistent debt rules: what your card provider must do after 18 months
If you have paid more in interest than capital for 18 months, lenders have to contact you and offer options. What the letters say and how to respond.
The best tools, compared
Sort My Balance may earn a small commission if you sign up to some services through our links; it never affects the order, and the debt charities listed pay us nothing.
1
StepChange Best overall
Free debt charity★★★★★- Free, FCA-regulated advice
- Sets up DMPs and IVAs without fees
- Online tool available 24/7
free
Visit StepChange2
National Debtline Best for phone advice
Free advice line★★★★★- Free phone and webchat advice
- Excellent fact sheets and letter templates
- Run by the Money Advice Trust charity
3
MoneyHelper Great starting point
Government-backed guidance★★★★★- Impartial and government-backed
- Debt advice locator by postcode
- Budget planner and Breathing Space information
4
ClearScore Best free credit check
Free credit report★★★★★- Free Equifax-based report and score
- Shows defaults and missed-payment markers
- Alerts when your file changes
Useful for checking what lenders actually see while you work through your plan.
free
Visit ClearScore5
Snoop Best value
Budgeting app★★★★★- Connects UK bank accounts via Open Banking
- Spots bills you could cut
- Free core features
Good for finding the spare money each month that makes a repayment plan actually work.
free plan
Visit Snoop4.6★
average app store rating
38k+
plans built in the Sort My Balance app
12 min
typical time to list every debt and set an order
£0
cost of the app and of every advice service we point to
The order most people get wrong
Start with the debts that can cost you your home, your heating or your liberty. In the UK these are called priority debts: rent or mortgage arrears, council tax, gas and electricity, court fines, child maintenance and anything secured on your car or house. Their lenders have stronger powers than a credit card company, so they come first even if their balances are smaller and the letters are politer.
Only then look at the non-priority pile: credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, catalogues and buy-now-pay-later. Here you have a real choice. The avalanche method puts spare money at the highest interest rate and is cheapest overall. The snowball method clears the smallest balance first and is better for people who need a visible win to keep going. Neither is wrong; the one you will actually stick to is the right one.
If after rent, bills and food there is genuinely nothing left for the non-priority debts, the plan changes. That is the point to speak to a free, regulated adviser about a debt management plan, Breathing Space or, in some cases, an IVA or Debt Relief Order. None of these are shortcuts and all of them affect your credit file, but they are structured and legal, and nobody should ever charge you a fee to set one up.
Sort My Balance Planner — what it does
Priority debts first
The app will not let a store card push council tax arrears down the list.
Honest projections
Payoff timelines use your actual APRs and payments, not a best-case guess.
Payment reminders
A nudge two days before each due date, because missed payments cost more than interest.
Nothing leaves your phone
No bank login is required and no data is sold to lenders or lead brokers.
Letter templates
Hardship, Breathing Space and 'prove the debt' letters you can copy and send.
Free advice built in
When numbers suggest a formal solution, it points you to StepChange or National Debtline, not a fee-charging firm.
●
Sort My Balance Planner
Sort My Balance Planner lets you list every card, overdraft, loan and arrears in one place, flags which ones are priority debts, and shows you a realistic month-by-month order to pay them down. It does not lend, sell plans or take a cut of anything.
- Lists each debt with balance, APR, minimum payment and due date in one screen
- Flags priority debts (rent, council tax, energy, court fines) so they sit at the top
- Compares snowball and avalanche orders side by side using your real numbers
- Reminds you two days before each minimum payment so you avoid missed-payment markers
- Includes plain-English letter templates for collectors, hardship requests and Breathing Space
- Links you to free, FCA-regulated advice when your numbers suggest you need more than a plan
★★★★★ 4.6
Free · iOS & Android
From the blog
Sort My Balance Planner 2.3 adds Debt Relief Order eligibility check
A quick, private check against the current DRO thresholds, with a link straight to free advisers if you fit.
A reader asked whether to use £1,500 savings to clear a card. Our honest answer
Usually yes for high-interest cards, but keep a small emergency buffer first. We explain the reasoning and the exceptions.
Browse by topic
Priority vs non-priority debtsRent, council tax and energy come first, whatever the loudest letter says.Snowball or avalancheTwo honest ways to order your repayments, and when each one makes sense.0% balance transfersWhat they actually cost, who gets accepted, and the trap at month 19.Breathing SpaceThe legal 60-day pause on interest and enforcement in England and Wales.Debt management plans and IVAsWhat each one is, what it does to your credit file, and who should never be charged for one.Dealing with collectorsYour rights, the letters worth sending, and why a default notice is not the end of the world.
Debt is rarely a maths problem and almost always an ordering problem.Sort My Balance
How it works
List
Get every balance, rate and due date into one place, on paper or in the app.
Rank
Priority debts at the top, then the rest by interest or by size.
Pay and protect
Cover every minimum, put spare money on the first in line, and keep the essentials safe.
Review or get help
Update monthly, and bring in free regulated advice the moment the numbers stop adding up.
Worth reading first
Plain, honest explainers on the topic — so you can decide what fits you.
Feature
What a £2,400 credit card balance actually costs at the minimum payment
We ran a typical 24.9% card through the numbers. Paying only the minimum stretches the debt over decades; adding even a fixed £40 a month changes the picture dramatically. The arithmetic is dull, which is exactly why lenders rely on you not doing it.
Explainer
Breathing Space: the 60-day pause most people in arrears have never heard of
Since 2021, people in England and Wales can apply through a debt adviser for a legal freeze on interest, fees and enforcement. Here is who qualifies, what it does not cover, and what to do with the 60 days.
Guide
Snowball or avalanche: we built both plans for the same 4 debts
Same balances, same income, two different orders. One finishes a few months sooner and costs less in interest; the other clears its first debt in week nine. We show the trade-off honestly so you can pick the one you will keep up.
Rights
A default notice landed on the mat. Here is what it does and does not mean
A default is a marker that stays on your file for six years, but it also often stops interest and gives you a fixed figure to deal with. What to send back, and why ignoring it is the only genuinely bad option.
Credit file
How long a missed payment, a default and an IVA stay on your credit file
The six-year rule covers most things, but the clock starts at different points for each. We lay out the timelines and the three agencies you can check for free.
Scam watch
Who is really behind the 'write off 85% of your debt' adverts
Most are lead generators who sell your details to fee-charging IVA firms. We explain how the funnel works, what an IVA genuinely is, and the free charities that will set one up without charging you.
Habits
The £5-a-day overdraft: why small daily fees beat most credit card APRs
Many UK overdrafts now charge around 35-40% EAR. For a lot of readers it is quietly the most expensive borrowing they have, and should sit higher on the list than they assumed.
Talking
How to tell a partner about £6,000 of debt they do not know about
Money secrecy is common and corrosive. A counsellor and a debt adviser give practical, non-judgemental steps for the conversation and for building one joint plan afterwards.
The first evening: a 7-step checklist
Set aside one quiet hour, your statements and a cup of tea; this is the whole of step one.
- Write down every debt: who you owe, the balance, the interest rate, the minimum payment and the date it is due
- Mark the priority ones: rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, court fines, child maintenance, secured loans
- Work out a realistic monthly budget, including food and travel, before deciding what is spare
- Pay every minimum on time this month, even if that is all you can do, to avoid new missed-payment markers
- Choose an order for the rest: highest interest first to pay least overall, or smallest balance first for momentum
- If there is nothing spare after essentials, contact a free regulated adviser that same week rather than borrowing more
- Check your credit file for free so you know exactly what lenders are seeing
- Set reminders for every due date and review the plan on the first of each month
Start tonight
Put your debts in order in about 12 minutes
Download the free Sort My Balance Planner, add each balance from your statements, and see a realistic order to tackle them. If the numbers say you need more than a plan, it points you to free regulated help.
Get the free appAbout Sort My Balance
Sort My Balance is an independent UK money magazine and a free planning app, written by people who have sat on the wrong side of a default notice. We do not lend, we do not sell debt solutions, and we do not promise to make debt disappear. We explain how it works and point you to the free, regulated help that already exists.
| Company | Sort My Balance Media Ltd |
| Registration | Company No. 14827316 |
| Registered office | Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Focus | Independent money guides & tools |
Still wondering?
Is the Sort My Balance Planner app really free?
Yes. The app is free on iOS and Android with no paid tier for the planning features. The site is funded by clearly labelled affiliate links to a few budgeting and credit-check services.
Does the app connect to my bank?
No. You type in balances from your statements, so there is no bank login and no transaction data leaving your phone. Some readers prefer this; others use a separate Open Banking budgeting app alongside it.
Will following a plan improve my credit score?
Paying on time and reducing balances generally helps over time, but we cannot promise a particular score or timeframe. Existing defaults stay on your file for six years regardless of how quickly you repay.
Should I pay a company to set up a debt management plan or IVA?
No. StepChange, National Debtline and other free charities set these up at no cost. Fee-charging firms take part of your repayments and offer nothing the charities do not.
What is the difference between a priority and a non-priority debt?
Priority debts are those where non-payment has serious consequences: losing your home, having energy cut off, or court action. Credit cards and loans are non-priority, not because they do not matter but because the lender's powers are more limited.
Is a 0% balance transfer a good idea?
It can be, if you are accepted, can afford the transfer fee, and have a plan to clear the balance before the promotional rate ends. It is not a good idea if it tempts you to keep spending on the old card.
What is Breathing Space?
A legal scheme in England and Wales giving most people 60 days of protection from interest, fees and enforcement while they get advice. You apply through a debt adviser, not directly, and it is not a write-off.
Can a debt be too old to collect?
In England and Wales, most unsecured debts become statute-barred if there has been no payment or written acknowledgement for six years. The rules differ in Scotland, and it is worth checking with a free adviser before relying on this.
Sort My Balance provides general information, not regulated financial advice; everyone's situation and results differ, and for personal debt advice contact a free FCA-authorised service such as StepChange or National Debtline.