B4 - Information, Guidance & Advice Flashcards
Explain and evaluate Citizen Advice.
It’s a charity run organisation that provides advice on a range of financial and non financial issues.
+ Free, covers various areas, & can be face-to-face, online, phone etc
- Trained volunteers, so not professional & knowledge in finance may be limited
Explain and evaluate Independent Financial Advisor (IFA).
It’s the professionals who provide independent advice and guidance on a range of financial products (e.g. mortgage, pension, insurance).
+ Advice is offered by professionals and is based on individual’s needs & there’s no commision
- They charge fees & everything depends on the quality of the advisor
Explain and evaluate price comparison website.
They’re sites that compare price of goods and services from a range of companies.
+ Access 24/7, free & easy to compare
- Could be biased & doesn’t always cover all providers
Explain and evaluate debt counsellors.
It’s a professional service offering independent advice, commonly used with debt settlement through education as well as the use of different tools to eliminate debt.
+ They’re professionals specialising in debt & are regulated by FCA and FOS
- It isn’t free & just focuses on debt
Explain and evaluate the Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA).
It’s an agreement with creditors to pay all or part of your debts using regular payments to insolvency practitioner, who divides it between your creditors.
+ Helps budget because of spread out payments & it’s unbiased as the advice is independent
- Fees are charged for service & impacts your credit rating
Explain and evaluate the option of bankruptcy.
It’s a legal process through which people or entities who can’t repay debts to creditors seek relief from some or all debts.
+ Suspends any debt collection & debts are usually fully written off
- May get all assets repossessed & it stays on credit report for 7 to 10 years so will be difficult to borrow in future
