18th September 2007, Swindon, United Kingdom – The UK’s first online divorce service, Divorce-Online, is bracing itself for a rush of couples heading to the divorce courts following the summer holidays, and is offering interest-free credit to spread the cost of getting divorced over several months.
September is the second-busiest month of the year for divorce applications following the stress of spending extended time together. Divorce-Online found that many disillusioned partners cannot raise the necessary cash immediately to begin proceedings so they teemed up with a financial services company to offer interest free loans.
According to Relate statistics, disagreements over money are the second most common cause of divorce. The pressures of ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ on expensive holidays cause problems in unstable marriages and Mark Keenan, Managing Director of Divorce-Online says ‘Couples trying to hold rocky relationships together for the sake of their children often decide to split once the schools reopen for the Autumn term.’
Divorce-Online is already one of the least expensive ways of getting divorced as their £170 or £290 fees compare very favourably with traditional solicitors’ costs of between £850 - £2,500 for an uncontested or amicable divorce. The interest-free Diamond package with court fees included costs £510 and the Diamond Plus managed service including a financial order and court fees totals £670. All that is required is a 10% deposit and six equal monthly instalments of the balance. For full details of the terms and conditions see http://www.divorce-online.co.uk/services/interest_free_credit.asp
After the 10% deposit people can now get divorced for as little as £46 a month over 6 months. This interest-free loan is subject to status and requires a credit check. Customers do not have to be homeowners but must be age 18 or over and must not be unemployed or a student. Mark adds ‘We believe this makes divorce accessible to the average man in the street and is a more responsible approach to managing finances when there are a lot of other uncertainties. We take lots of enquiries in September when people have little left in their bank accounts after the holidays. If arguments over money are often cited as contributing to divorce, then interest free credit is the smart way to avoid further credit card debt with its high interest rates.’ To find out more, see www.divorce-online.co.uk or call 01793 600751.
Divorce-Online were recently the first divorce company to advertise on television to let people know about cost-effective ways of handling divorce paperwork, if they have already decided to divorce. The advertisement can be seen on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Iw51j592A
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Additional Divorce Statistics for Editors
The September peak in divorce applications coincides with figures released this week by The Office Of National Statistics revealing that the total number of divorces actually fell by 7% in 2006. This is the second year running that the figure has fallen and the divorce rate is now at its lowest since 1984.
However, one in five men and women divorcing in 2006 had a previous marriage ending in divorce. This proportion has doubled in 25 years. In more than two-thirds (69%) of cases the wife was granted the divorce. The most common "fact" supporting divorce was the unreasonable behaviour of the other partner.
One in three people get divorced nowadays and the latest figures for 2006 showed 132,562divorces in England & Wales, where one in five of these were second divorces.
Where divorce was granted to the husband, there had been a two-year separation in 32% of cases. Over 60% of users of the Divorce-Online service are women
Weblinks
Office for National Statistics (divorce information)
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=170
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