I am in the same boat, due to the economic climate I lost my job, tried to run my own business which then failed due to the ever worsening climate (and the fact that the local authority, who I did a lot of contract work for when self employed) don't pay invoices for 3 months at a time. This basically rendered me in an impossible cashflow situation. So, I ended up losing car, and defaulting on a loan despite offers to pay within my current means.
The snag here, is that now these companies have CCJs against me, I can no longer return to work in the sector that I am most suitably qualified for, so they will be waiting even longer for their money, if they get it at all!
Personally though, I very much resent the assumption that because you have debt, you will steal from your employers and clients. I thought, rather stupidly, that your criminal record would be a better indicator of this than your financial one!