Here are some examples of cases our preferred 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

If you really want to grip your debts and get back on track, a good debt management company will do a lot of the nasty work for you. You provide the regular payments - and the self-discipline.

You pay a (relatively small) fixed monthly fee that you know the amount of in advance.

In exchange, they take over the burdens of dealing with the creditors, acting on your behalf for as long as you require assistance. So you don't have to deal directly with your creditors any more. It can be worth it for the stress relief alone! A good debt management company can also help you if any creditor does continue to harass you directly. But in fact you get a lot more.

They use your income & expenditure declaration to compile a debt management plan. Then they issue financial statements and re-negotiate payment terms with your creditors - making sure that your legal rights are acknowledged and your payments are distributed fairly.

Our preferred company say 70% of the arrangements they make result in interest concessions. They are quite open in saying they can't guarantee that in every case. But that's another probable benefit.

You send the debt management company one payment a week or one payment a month and they distribute it among the creditors in line with the agreed plan. Creditors often want to see a few months of regular payments before they agree to an interest concession. Just pay the debt management company the single fixed sum each week or each month, and they will organise this for you.

Why do we particularly like one debt management company? Because their monthly fees are fixed. You know what the fees will be up front. No nasty hidden surprises from them.

What now? The first thing to do is get hold of their clear and helpful brochure.

To contact them click here.