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You can only be sure of getting good value from a debt management company if you compare several debt management plans for different organisations. You can do this using the list of recommended debt companies on the main debt management page of this site. This article explains how debt management plans work and why it is important to find a reputable company.
Debt management and debt consolidation are often used as if they have the same meaning, but this is not quite the case. Debt consolidation is a term that is used very frequently, but it can mean more than one thing. When many people talk about debt consolidation they are referring to the setting up of a repayment program through a debt company. This is what a debt management plan is. Debt consolidation is also used, however, to mean consolidating all your debts into one payment by taking out a large loan to pay them all off. This is a completely separate approach to the use of debt management plans, which do not involve borrowing any money.
When you approach a debt company about setting up a payment plan, the first thing that will happen is that one of their debt advisors will go through all your finances with you to see whether your situation is suitable for a debt management plan or not. This is an important stage of the process and the reputable companies will give you honest advice about whether a plan will really work, or whether you should be using another approach to deal with your debt.
For debt management plans to be effective you need to have quite a lot of unsecured debt, but enough money spare to afford a reasonable monthly payment towards your debts. Unsecured debts are those that are not tied to valuable assets, such as your home or car. A mortgage, for example, is a secured debt, so cannot be included in a debt management plan. Typical unsecured debts include personal loans, credit cards and other household bills. A debt company will examine your regular income and expenditure to see if your situation is right for a debt management plan.
If you are accepted into a plan, a debt advisor will start to negotiate with your creditors about how your debts are to be repaid. The negotiation is to secure changes to the charges and interest rates that you have to pay, so that the amount due each month goes down. You will stop paying your creditors and instead agree to pay a certain amount each month to the management company for a set period of time. They will then share this out among your creditors, who should then deal direct with the company rather than coming to you with queries regarding the debt.
You then have regular affordable payments and after the agreed period you are free from your debts. That is how debt management plans work and is what will happen provided your situation is right for using such a plan, and providing that you compare debt management plans to find the best company for you. To ensure that you are being offered reasonable value, it makes sense with any kind of purchase to shop around and compare prices, and so it is with debt management plans.
Provided you start with companies that are known to be reputable and well established, you should not go wrong if you apply online to a few of them and see what offers and proposals they come up with. There is a list of some of the best debt management companies in the US and UK on the main debt management page of this site.
If your debt situation is very serious, and you are experiencing genuine hardship, you may need to consider debt settlement (for US citizens) or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (for UK citizens). These are radical solutions for people who cannot keep up with their debt payments. People who use these options tend to be either considering bankruptcy or even facing legal action from creditors. Both solutions involve negotiating to write off large parts of your debts. You can find out more on the (link)debt settlement and (link)IVA pages of this site.
