Money help in Northern Ireland: free guidance and local support

Northern Ireland has its own network of free money and debt advice, and its own rules in several areas that differ from England, Scotland and Wales. The main port of call is Advice NI, which offers free, confidential and impartial advice on managing money and debt, and runs a freephone debt helpline on 0800 915 4604¹. Its network dealt with over 288,000 enquiries in a recent year, over 75% of them social security related, and its debt service handled approximately £46m of debt, with an average of just over £11,000 owed per client².

Alongside Advice NI sit the Consumer Council and its Consumerline service for consumer problems, and credit unions, which play a bigger role in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK. Credit union use in Northern Ireland is well above that in Great Britain, though below that in the Republic of Ireland³. Credit unions there can lend from as little as £50⁴, and the law caps their loan interest at 1% per month, compared with 3% per month in Great Britain⁵.

All of this help is free. The guidance below sets out what each service offers, what it costs, and where the limits are.

Free money and debt advice in Northern Ireland: what is available

Several organisations provide free help with money problems in Northern Ireland, and the first step for most people is working out which one fits their situation.

Advice NI is the largest. It offers free, confidential and impartial advice and information to help you manage your money, and its member organisations provide free, confidential help and advice for anyone struggling to deal with money and debt, including advice on debt solutions, benefits, housing, employment, tax and consumer rights¹. Advice NI also runs Money Talks, an online money and debt resource hub tailored specifically for people living in Northern Ireland, with tools such as benefits calculators and detailed guides on money and debt, including debt management and bankruptcy¹.

Citizens Advice also offers free advice on debt and other money problems⁸, and Christians Against Poverty operates in Northern Ireland, providing free Debt Help, Job Clubs, Life Skills groups and CAP Money courses; it can set up a debt management plan and walk you through insolvency options⁷. For consumer problems rather than debt, Consumerline provides free, independent support and advice for all consumers and businesses in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Trading Standards Service⁷.

The consistent message from official guidance is to use these free services before paying anyone. There are many organisations offering free and independent advice on ways to deal with a debt problem, and official guidance on loan sharks is blunt about it: always get free, independent help before you pay a commercial service⁹. Some financial advisers do charge a fee, and paying for advice is a separate decision covered in paying for financial advice.

If you are unsure where to start, the general guide to free money guidance explains the national services, and making a budget covers the first practical step most advisers will help you take.

Advice NI: free, confidential help with debt and money

Advice NI's Debt Action service provides free, confidential help and advice for anyone struggling to deal with money and debt¹. You can contact it in several ways:

• Freephone 0800 915 4604
• Text ACTION to 81025 for a call back
• Email advice@adviceni.net
• Visit the Advice NI website to find local advice centres¹

Advice NI has offices throughout Northern Ireland, which you can visit or telephone for advice¹⁰, so face to face help is available, not just a phone line. The scale of what it deals with gives a picture of how people in Northern Ireland use it. In a recent year its network handled over 288,000 enquiries, more than 75% of them about social security, and generated almost £150 million in unclaimed benefits and entitlements for the people it advised². The debt service dealt with approximately £46m in debt, with an average debt per client of just over £11,000².

The service is free and confidential, and it is independent: it is not selling a debt solution or a loan. Official guidance on debt repayment options, debt management plans and informal arrangements all point to Advice NI as a source of free and independent advice before you commit to anything¹¹. That matters because some commercial firms charge fees to arrange solutions that a free adviser could talk you through at no cost.

Advice NI's help is not limited to debt. Its advisers also cover benefits, housing, employment, tax and consumer rights⁷, which is why a single appointment can often deal with several connected problems at once: a debt issue that started with a benefit underpayment, for example, or rent arrears that began with a job loss.

Debt solutions an adviser can talk you through

A debt adviser's first job is to work out what you can actually afford to pay, and only then to match a solution to your situation. The main options an adviser in Northern Ireland will talk through are as follows.

Informal arrangements. You can get free and independent advice about informal arrangements, and whether they are the best way to deal with your debt problem, from organisations like Advice NI¹³. An informal arrangement is an agreement with your creditors that is not legally binding, which makes it flexible but also means creditors are not forced to stick to it.

Debt management plans. Official guidance is to get advice before setting up a plan with a provider, and free and independent advice is available from organisations like Advice NI¹². A plan involves paying what you can afford each month, usually through a provider who deals with your creditors for you.

Consolidating debts. Consolidation means combining several debts into one, often with a new loan. There are many organisations offering free and independent advice on ways to deal with a debt problem, and it costs nothing to talk through the options with one of them before borrowing more¹⁴.

Formal insolvency options. For debts that cannot be repaid, Northern Ireland has its own insolvency framework. A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is available to people with low debts and few assets: the limits on total debt and assets were increased to £20,000 and £1,000 in November 2016, and a 2024 rule change amended the overall indebtedness limit for a DRO from £20,000 to £50,000⁶. The Department for the Economy has also consulted on proposed increases to the monetary eligibility limits for DROs in Northern Ireland¹⁵. Bankruptcy is the option of last resort, and it comes with restrictions: a trustee can claim surplus money in your account beyond what you need for reasonable living expenses, so you must tell your trustee about any money in the account that is more than you need¹⁶.

Debts owed to HMRC. If you owe tax, you can get free, confidential and independent advice from a debt adviser, and HMRC guidance sets out what to do if you owe money to it¹⁷.

One protection worth knowing about is breathing space, part of the Debt Respite Scheme, which gives people legal protections from their creditors for 60 days, with most interest and penalty charges frozen¹⁹. The scheme operates in England and Wales, so a Northern Ireland adviser will explain what protections apply to you locally and which creditors can still pursue you.

The wider guide to debt covers each solution in more detail, and what to do when spending exceeds income covers the budgeting side.

If you are taken to court or pressured over a debt

Being pursued for a debt does not remove your right to advice, and free help remains available at every stage. If you want to speak to someone about your debts, you can get free, confidential and independent advice from a debt adviser¹⁷, including when the creditor is HMRC, which has its own processes and can use distraint, with a fee of £12.50 where the debt is less than £100²⁰.

If a lender has lent to you unaffordably, you can complain to the lender and then to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which handles complaints involving the cost of living and unaffordable lending⁸. The ombudsman can look at whether a loan was affordable for you when it was given, and it is a free service.

If money problems are affecting your mental health or you are being pressured by someone you know over money, free help if someone pressures you over money sets out where to turn. If the pressure is from a lender operating outside the law, that is illegal lending, covered below under the Consumer Council.

Benefits and tax checks: claiming what you are owed

A large share of the money problems Advice NI sees are benefits problems. Over 75% of the enquiries its network dealt with in a recent year were social security related, and its work generated almost £150 million in unclaimed benefits and entitlements². That figure is the clearest argument for a benefits check: many people in Northern Ireland are entitled to money they are not claiming.

A benefits check through a free adviser can cover:

• Benefits you have never claimed, or stopped claiming
• Benefits that have been underpaid
• Tax credits and entitlements that interact with universal credit
• Help with claiming personal independence payment, which in Northern Ireland must be made in writing on a form authorised by the Department, by telephone call to a specified number, or by receipt of a telephone call from the Department²²

If you have been paid benefits you were not entitled to, there is a specific service: if you live in Northern Ireland, you can use the repay and manage benefit money you owe service to see and pay back benefits owed²³. Getting advice before arranging repayment matters, because the rate of repayment can be negotiated.

Family circumstances affect entitlements in ways that differ in Northern Ireland. Around 21% of families in Northern Ireland have three or more children, compared with just under 15 per cent of families in the UK as a whole, and figures from August 2025 indicate that 440 households with three or more children in Northern Ireland would currently be subject to the Benefit Cap²⁴. An adviser can check how the cap applies to a particular household.

For people too ill to work, New Style Employment and Support Allowance is claimed through the NI Direct Employment and Support Allowance Centre in Northern Ireland²⁵. The wider guide to benefits covers entitlements in general.

Help for the self-employed and small business owners

Advice NI runs a dedicated Business Debt Service, a free, confidential telephone advice service offering tailored, independent and impartial advice for sole traders, partnerships and limited companies, which aims to resolve immediate business debt problems¹. It can be contacted on Freephone 0800 915 4604 or by email¹.

The debts involved tend to be larger than personal ones. Advice NI's small business caseload shows average debt of just over £53,000², against an average of just over £11,000 for its personal debt clients². For a sole trader, business and personal debts are often the same problem, since personal assets sit behind business borrowing, so advice that covers both sides is useful.

Self-employed people also face irregular income, which makes budgeting harder and makes the guide to budgeting when income varies directly relevant. MoneyHelper also provides free and impartial money advice²⁶, and its support and guidance are free²⁷.

Help with an unexpected expense or running out of money

An unexpected bill, a broken boiler or a gap between income and outgoings is often what pushes people into debt. The Northern Ireland Living Costs and Food Survey is the main source of information on the cost of living in Northern Ireland, which is needed to calculate the rate of inflation²⁸, and it is the evidence base behind cost of living support.

The practical steps for an unexpected expense are the same everywhere, and the free services above support each of them:

1. Check whether any benefits or support can be claimed, using a free adviser or a benefits calculator¹.
2. Work out what can be cut from regular spending, using a budget or a free budget planner.
3. Talk to creditors before missing a payment, with a free adviser negotiating on your behalf¹.
4. Consider a small, affordable loan from a credit union rather than a high cost lender⁴.

If the problem is a one-off gap rather than ongoing shortfall, an emergency fund is what prevents the next one, and the order to sort out your finances sets out the sequence. If the gap is caused by annual or irregular bills, budgeting for annual bills explains how to spread them.

Credit unions: borrowing from £50 without payday loan costs

Credit unions are not for profit community lenders, providing affordable loans and savings⁴. They are owned by their members, who hold savings in the union³, and members involved in the credit union decide how it is run²⁹. Their stated aims include providing loans at low interest rates²⁹, and they provide access to fair and affordable credit for people with a poor credit history, those who cannot access mainstream forms of credit, and those who may be unaware of affordable providers⁴.

For small borrowing, the key figure is the minimum: credit unions provide loans starting from £50⁴. That matters because payday lenders and other high cost credit providers typically focus on exactly this small loan territory, and a £50 loan from a credit union carries interest capped at 1% per month in Northern Ireland⁵.

Credit unions always consider affordability when assessing loan applications⁴, so a poor credit history does not automatically rule out borrowing. You must be a member of a credit union to get a loan from them, and some will ask you to build savings first²⁹. Historically, the maximum loan amount available to members in Northern Ireland was increased to £15,000³².

Savings with credit unions are protected: loans and savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme⁴. The full guide to credit unions covers how they work in general, and loans covers the alternatives.

Joining a credit union: the common bond and what you need

Anyone can become a member of a credit union, but you must share a "common bond" with other members³³. All credit unions in the UK may only accept members who have a common bond³. Membership of a credit union is based on that common bond³³, which can be:

• Living, working, studying or volunteering in a certain area³⁴
• Working for a particular employer or in a particular industry³³
• Belonging to the same trade union³⁴
• Simply living or working in a specified geographical area³³

Anyone in the house of a person with a common bond with a credit union can usually join²⁹. Most local areas have a credit union²⁹, and in Northern Ireland the Irish League of Credit Unions is a trade and representative body for 92 credit unions⁷.

To join, you need to visit or call your chosen credit union to confirm what information you need³³. In practice you will normally be asked to pay a small fee, for example £2, or to save a certain amount such as £10³⁴, and you will usually need to provide two recent documents to prove your identity and address, for example a passport, driving licence, student or work ID card, bus pass, birth certificate, bank statement or energy bill³⁴.

A credit union must have at least 21 members to operate⁵. Lots of smaller credit unions rely on volunteers, and only the larger ones have paid staff²⁹. All credit unions offer savings accounts and loans³³.

Consumer Council: help with consumer rights, energy and illegal lending

The Consumer Council is Northern Ireland's consumer body, and Consumerline, its advice service, provides free, independent support and advice for all consumers and businesses in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Trading Standards Service⁷. It is the place to go when the problem is a purchase, a bill or a supplier rather than a debt: faulty goods, a disputed charge, or an energy complaint.

The Consumer Council also works on illegal lending. If you are dealing with a loan shark, official guidance is clear about the order of things: always get free, independent help before you pay a commercial service⁹. A loan shark is someone who lends money without the legal authority to do so, and borrowing from one leaves you without the protections that apply to licensed lenders. The Consumer Council's help pages on illegal lending signpost the support available, including Advice NI's member organisations for debt help⁷.

If you have borrowed from a licensed lender but the loan was unaffordable, the Financial Ombudsman Service can consider unaffordable lending complaints²¹, and it also handles complaints involving the cost of living⁸. The guide to consumer protection covers your rights with financial firms in general.

Where credit unions and advice services have limits

Credit unions in Northern Ireland are governed by different law from those in Great Britain. Credit union law is largely devolved in Northern Ireland³, and many of the legal restrictions that have been relaxed for credit unions in Great Britain over the past twenty years have not been relaxed in Northern Ireland³.

The practical differences are set out in official guidance⁵:

Credit unions in Northern Ireland cannot legally offer hire purchase agreements, conditional sale agreements, insurance or loans to other credit unions⁵. So a Northern Ireland credit union is a place for savings and loans, not for a current account, a mortgage or insurance.

There are limits on the protection side too. Most of the loans that credit unions provide are specifically exempt from the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC)³⁵, which means the standards that apply, for example the level of checks a lender may have needed to do before lending, will typically be lower than those imposed on lenders and loans covered by CONC²¹. Credit unions are exempt from certain rules and regulations that apply to other financial services providers²¹. Savings and loans remain FSCS protected⁴, but the lending rules that govern the loan itself are lighter.

Advice services have limits as well. They advise, they do not lend, and they cannot make a creditor accept an informal arrangement. Some solutions, such as breathing space's 60 day protection, apply in England and Wales rather than Northern Ireland¹⁹. And the scale of unclaimed benefits, almost £150 million generated in a single year², shows that many people never reach an adviser at all.

For the wider picture of how money rules differ across the UK, see money in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the parallel guides to money help in Scotland and money help in Wales.