Personal debt is soaring. Personal debt in Britain amounts to a staggering £8000 per household, excluding mortgage borrowing, and it is rising all the time. Each year, the figure jumps by more than 10% - or £1 million every 4 minutes.

Debt is the direct cause of many presenting physical and emotional problems that GPs, clergy, social workers, Citizens’ Bureau workers and other professional and voluntary agencies are constantly faced with. It leads to illness, depression and breakdown for countless individuals and families.

Here is a thoroughly practical and pragmatic guide for anyone involved in helping people out of debt – and keeping them out of it. Explained in jargon-free terms, it offers an comprehensive manual for every aspect of debt counselling, including:

 establishing the scale of the problem

 facing reality / emergency action

 sorting minor and serious debt problems

 prioritising debts / types of debt

 budgeting

 dealing with creditors /negotiating debts

 maximising income

 insolvency

 debt and the law and more.

Robert Leach recovered from a serious debt problem after a failed business venture by following the principles outlined in this books. The good news, he says, is that there is no financial problem that cannot be resolved and he shares his remedy here.