Here are some examples of cases our chosen debt management company has dealt with.

• Mr. C & Ms. L had been living together for some time and had accepted
  finance within their ability to repay. Unfortunately Mr. C & Ms. L
  separated & Mr. C was faced with maintaining utility bills for the property
  in full based on his sole income in addition to payments to his creditors.
  As the majority of the finance Mr. C & Ms. L had taken out was in Mr. C's
  name he was forced to offer payments to his creditors but at a reduced
  rate.
   
• Miss T was a student, working part time and had accrued finance whilst she
  was studying. In an effort to improve her situation, Miss T began to
  increase her working hours to full time. Her full time wage was not what
  she anticipated. This had the effect that her outgoings (travelling costs,
  rent etc.) and personal tax liabilities increased resulting in Miss T no
  longer being able to maintain payments to her creditors as she had
  expected.
   
• Mr. & Mrs. A were both in full time employment & had accepted finance at
  the level of their ability. Unfortunately, Mrs. A was made redundant, as
  Mr. A was in full time employment Mrs. A did not qualify for income
  support, however their joint outgoings exceeded their ability to maintain
  payments in full. For a time Mr. & Mrs. A 'robbed Peter to pay Paul' i.e.
  taking cash advances from one credit card to pay another. Whilst their
  credit file remained up to date, this only served to increase the overall
  liabilities.
   
• Mr. R was in full time employment and had accepted sustainable credit,
  choosing to take out payment protection options. Mr. R was unexpectedly
  made redundant, whilst Mr. R's payment protection maintained payments
  towards his liabilities, Mr. R searched for work. Recently Mr. R found new
  employment which was further away than he ideally would have preferred.
  Due to the location of his new job, Mr. R was required to obtain additional
  finance to buy a car. After taking into consideration his increased costs
  & his lower wage, Mr. R was little better off than when he was unemployed.
  However, if he resigned, his payment protection policies would not
  re-commence payments. While Mr. R looks for improved employment, he is not
  able to maintain the committed payments to his creditors.
   
• Mr. & Mrs. B had been living together for some time & had accepted finance
  within their ability to repay. Mr. & Mrs. B decided to start a family &
  calculated that with Mrs. B returning to work part time after her maternity
  leave ended, they would be able to maintain a reasonable standard of
  living. However the costs of a growing family proved to be greater than
  Mr. & Mrs. B had originally prepared for, resulting in it becoming
  increasingly difficult for Mr. & Mrs. B to maintain payments to their creditors.

About the debt management company

When you ask to be put in touch with GFM, they will telephone you at a time convenient to you. If you wish, they will send someone to visit you at no extra cost.

They will then agree a repayment plan with the companies you owe money to, and distribute your monthly payments for you. To participate, you need to have at least £100 a month available to put towards your debts.

The only cost to you is a temporary deposit of £100. This will be added back to the first monthly payment you make through GFM.

GFM is an independent company, but the rest of its fees are paid by the lending companies themselves. (It's worth their while to do this because they are getting money back which they wouldn't have got otherwise.)

We think this is an ethical way to handle debt arrears. Please tell us of any good or bad experiences you have with GFM.

To contact GFM click here.