ABSTRACT
This area of social welfare requires the deployment of the everyday social work skills of interviewing, negotiation and case management, in a different context of finance. In 1996, some 860,000 or more of enquirers at various advice agencies were concerned with debt. Moreover, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported that a 6% increase on repossessions in the UK suggested that poverty and debt problems were spreading far and wide across the UK still. Obviously, social workers will encounter debt problems and money advice problems in their day-to-day practice, as a consequence of these trends. Whilst their clients might have problems with benefits, eviction/repossession, or even obtaining employment, others will have their water, gas or electricity connected, or find themselves borrowing and getting deeper and deeper into debt resulting in harassment from many creditors. To deal with these everyday issue, the legally competent social worker ought to be aware of various rights and remedies available to those who need some money and/or debt advice.
