The number of people using credit cards to gamble on line has increased dramatically over the last few years. If you have a debt problem, we consider whether gambling will affect your ability to use debt management.
Trying to get out of debt can be extremely difficult. One of the methods chosen by some to try and pay off their debt is to attempt to win money by gambling.
Generally speaking, this solution does not work. More often than not the problem becomes worse because credit cards are used to fund the gambling habit.
Eventually the only way to resolve the debt problem is to turn to a debt management solution such as a debt management plan (DMP) or individual voluntary arrangement (IVA).
Gambling not a crime
However, a lot of people worry that they will not be able to use these solutions because their debts are partly (or sometimes largely) due to gambling.
In fact this view is not correct. Gambling is not a crime and as such debts generated through gambling should really be seen as no worse than debt generated in other ways.
As such, gambling debts which very often end up as additional expenditure on credit cards can certainly be included in a debt management plan or IVA.
The concern with gambling is therefore not that such debts are not legal or legitimate.
Further gambling must stop
The issue is that because gambling can become an addiction, if you have gambled in the past, there could be the possibility that you will be tempted to do so again in the future.
If that were to happen while you are in a DMP or IVA, it would mean that you would no longer be able to afford to make your monthly payments and the arrangement could fail.
For this reason, if you have gambled in the past, before you start a debt management plan you need to be sure that you will not gamble again. In the case of an individual voluntary arrangement you will actual ly need to prove that you are no longer gambling.
Generally spe aking the way to do this is to provide three months of bank statements showing no evidence of gambling.
If you have gambled within the last three months and want to do an IVA, you will have to maintain reduced payments to your creditors for a month or two so that you can build up your non gambling history. You will then be able to start the IVA application process.
Speak to a debt advisor
It is extremely rare to find an example of where someone has successfully gambled their way out of debt. Generally speaking this strategy never works.
If you are suffering with a debt problem, you are far better off speaking to a debt management expert and considering a debt management plan or IVA.
If you already have gambling debts, it is important to understand that you can still resolve the problem using debt management. You just need to be sure that you will not gamble again in the future and be ready to show evidence that your gambling has stopped.
James Falla is a debt adviser from BeatMyDebt.com in the UK. For more quality and unbiased information on Personal Debt Solutions, visit our website at www.beatmydebt.com
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