Was it down to ill health? You also need to explain what has changed now and how you will be able to meet the new payments. Try not to be over optimistic here. And for goodness sake tell them the truth, if you don't they will almost certainly find out and you'll fail. They're trained to spot lying by applicants. You have a couple of choices. You can either make your own decisions on where to place your investment money or alternatively get a professional to do it on your behalf. Whichever one you decide on it is always a good idea to paper trade first. That is where you decide on a particular stock and only place the order on paper. It is important to remember that you are taking the existing balances of your bills and spreading them over the term of the new loan. Obviously you need to sit down with pen and paper and work out just how much that will add up to in interest. Will it be a worth while saving that you make each month on your existing repayments over how much you pay in the long term. It's essential that you select the right method for both your needs and your personality before you invest anything at all. To do that you need to really consider all the different ways of investing. Money can be made in almost any type of investment but matching it to your personality will make it a much more sensible approach. You should also bear in mind that while they might be non profit they still have to pay for their expenses. While they may not have the swanky offices their commercial cousins have they still have to fund their employee's salaries. Or to be more accurate you, their clients will be the one funding it. It's not just the jargon and terminology either there are all the various abbreviations that are sprinkled around like confetti to think of as well. Of course part of the reason is the undoubted complexity of stocks and shares but there is just that sneaking suspicion the new investor will have that it is to keep the uninitiated out too.