How Can Debt Management
Help You?
Advice On Debt Management

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Recommended Debt Management Companies (US and UK)

Debt management is a very well established process for getting debts back under control. It is a process that changes some of the conditions about how you repay the money that you owe, and it results in a structured payment plan that allows you to make a single regular payment each month towards your debts.

Debt Management companies can help you because they specialise in setting up agreements known as debt management plans. If you are eligible for this type of help, a debt advisor will approach all of your creditors on your behalf and work out new arrangements for repaying your outstanding debts. The aim of these negotiations is to agree new terms that can involve reduced interest payments and even waiving any penalty fees or late payment charges. The result of these changes will be that the amount that needs to be paid out each month is reduced.

Using a debt management plan to help you in this way leaves you with only a single monthly payment to find, which you pay direct to the debt management company. They make all the payments to the creditors and you should no longer be bothered by companies chasing you for money. Many people are attracted by the ease of only a single payment to think about, and by the fact that this payment should be for a more affordable amount that the previous sum of all your individual debts.

Can Debt Management Help You – Who Is Eligible?

Debt management plans are designed to address particular situations, so you will only be accepted for a plan if your circumstances are appropriate. The first requirement is that you have quite a lot of unsecured debt to a few different creditors. Unsecured debts are just debts that are not secured against valuable assets, such as your house. Mortgages, for example, are a type of secured loan, so cannot be included in a debt management plan. Unsecured debts include credit cards, store cards, personal loans and bank overdrafts. The other main requirement is that you must have a source of income that leaves you a reasonable amount spare each month to put towards your debts.

If you apply to a debt management company to help you, the first thing they will do is go through all your finances with you, to assess the type and quantity of debts you have, and your ability to make a regular payment towards them. If your situation is quite serious and you are in real hardship, you may need to consider an alternative to debt management help.

Where To Get Help For More Serious Debt

For people who really cannot afford to keep up with the repayments on their debts, and are perhaps facing bankruptcy or legal action, the best solution is probably going to be debt settlement. This is an entirely different process, and is widely offered by specialist companies in the US. In the UK, debt companies can offer an equivalent to debt settlement called an IVA or Individual Voluntary Agreement. Debt settlement and IVAs both involve a process that can lead to a large part of your debts being written off. To find out more, visit the Debt Settlement page or the IVA page of this website.

How Can Debt Management Help You:
Finding A Good Company To Work With

If you think that debt management can help you to deal with your financial problems, the first thing you need to do is to find a good company to work on your behalf. As with any type of product or service, it is sensible to look around and compare a few organisations before committing yourself. This is simply good practice to help ensure that you get good value. All the leading debt management companies have websites with very simple online application forms, making it very quick and easy to apply. Applying online commits you to nothing, so you can approach as many as you wish.

Once you have sent your form in, the company will then contact you to go through your finances. Only when they have done this will they be able to tell you whether they can help you or not. If they are able to offer debt management help, they will make a proposal which you are free to either accept or not.

It is important to ensure that you only approach reputable companies, as there are some less scrupulous companies that will happily sign you up for a plan that includes generous payments to them, whether or not a debt plan is the best option for your circumstances. If you stick to companies that are known to be well established and reliable, and apply to a few of them, you should get a good result. There is a list of reputable debt management companies on the main Debt Management page of this website.