If you are one of the many British consumers, who are stuck deep in debt, you would probably know, that there are a number of options available, if it ever becomes unmanageable. Bankruptcy is, fortunately, only for the most intractable cases, while the relatively new - and heavily advertised - "Individual Voluntary Arrangement" (IVA) is a kind of half-way house that typically allows property owners to keep their homes.

IVAs are not pain free; for one thing, they leave a heavy black mark on your credit rating, also the company that administers the arrangement charges a sizable fee, reducing the amount that your creditors receive. So if you want to plan your own escape from the burden of debt, how should you go about it?

Experts have agreed that the first step, is to recognise the problem. Banks consider customers to be in financial difficulty when income is insufficient to cover reasonable living expenses and meet financial commitments as they become due, according to the Banking Code. If this applies to you, immediate action is a must.

Most importantly, this means getting in contact with your creditors as soon as you realise that there is a problem. Under the Banking Code, financial institutions are obliged to deal with difficulties €sympathetically and positively€, so the sooner you let them know, the more chance they have of preventing things getting worse.

Rachel Snow of the Building Societies Association said: €Problems are often down to temporary circumstances that can be seen through. So always contact your lender before you start missing payments.€

Heather Scott from the bank, Intelligent Finance; part of Halifax said: €If the customer shows a genuine desire to deal with the problem, we will work with them to do this. This could include reducing repayments for a short period or allowing a €payment holiday€. There are no hard and fast rules, but legal action over a mortgage is a last resort.€

Malcolm Hurlston, co-founder of Consumer Credit Counselling Service, a debt advice charity, said: €The key thing is to face up to it,when you start to go into arrears, your lenders' main worry is that you have disappeared, so it's very important to stay in touch - otherwise they will spend a lot of money trying to find you.€

He added: €We then work out how much of this total repayment would go to each creditor and make offers to lenders accordingly. These offers are usually accepted straight away - lenders have come to trust our methods and this way they avoid the further costs involved in scrutinising each client's finances themselves. We collect the total agreed from the client every month and pay each creditor - by BACS transfer, which reduces their costs and is another factor in their willingness to agree to our proposals.€

He continued: €Consolidation loans are generally a bad idea as they either are secured on your house or charge a higher rate of interest than your existing borrowing. So unless you change your spending habits - if you carry on using your credit cards, say - you could end up with the same debt but with the chance of losing your home into the bargain.€

He concluded: €Most of our clients end up paying off the agreed sums, although some pay their debts off sooner - through us or directly - if their circumstances improve.€

Other options and sources to turn to, when dealing with debt, include specialist organisations and local service such as, National Debtline, which is geared towards providing help over the phone, while Citizens Advice offers a large network of advice bureaux, where you can talk to a counsellor face to face. The CCCS, meanwhile, provides a telephone service but also offers a comprehensive online tool called Debt Remedy (www.cccs.co.uk). This web-based questionnaire takes you through a detailed audit of your finances and then produces an analysis and a list of recommendations. Debt Remedy, which took two years to develop and is believed to be the only example of its type in the world, has the additional benefit of being anonymous. The charity also offers advice on the use of budgeting to avoid debt problems at the following website, http://www.cccs.co.uk/budget/budget.aspx.

Also a Citizens Advise Bureau may be your best port of call if you have problems ranging across secured and unsecured borrowing and utility companies, if you face legal action or if you are unable to pay anything to your creditors.

Moira Haynes of Citizens Advice said: €We can represent you in court and help you to claim state benefits as well as in drawing up financial statements and negotiating with creditors.€