Featured stories

Can I set up my own debt management plan?
22 March 2010
Lenders live in the real world. They know that people`s circumstances can change, and that anyone`s financial fortunes can always take a turn for the better - or for the worse. ... >>

Don`t ignore debt - act on it now
18 January 2010
Different people get out of debt at different speeds. For some, getting `back in the black` is something that takes months; for others, it can take years. ... >>

Will debt management stop lenders contacting me?
16 September 2009
A debt management plan can offer people struggling with unmanageable debt a way out. By repaying your debts in smaller instalments over a longer period of time, you can make sure that all your commitments are covered.

Like any debt solution, however, debt management can`t help everyone. You should always speak with a professional debt adviser before deciding on a debt solution.

Here`s an introduction to debt management to help you get started.

How debt management works

A debt management plan is an informal arrangement with your lenders, in which you`ll agree to make lower monthly payments towards your debts, which you`ll repay over a longer period of time than originally agreed.

Lenders may accept this if they can see that it is the most realistic way for them to get back the money they are owed. So if you simply can`t afford your existing debt repayments, but feel you would be able to repay your debts in full over a longer period of time, debt management may be the right debt solution for you.

It`s possible for you to arrange a debt management plan on your own. However, because of the time and effort involved, you may prefer to let a professional debt management company do the hard work on your behalf.

Will I still get letters or calls from my lenders?

Different lenders work in different ways - and different debt management companies offer different levels of service. If, for example, you receive letters from your lenders while you`re on a debt management plan from Gregory Pennington, you can simply forward them to us in one of the pre-paid envelopes we provide, and we`ll deal with them. If they phone you, you can ask them to call us instead.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a report entitled `Debt collection guidance - Final guidance on unfair business practices`, which states that the following (among others) are examples of unfair practice:

• refusing to deal with appointed or authorised third parties, such as Citizens Advice Bureaux, independent advice centres or money advisers
• contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives
• operating a policy, without reason, of refusing to negotiate with debt management companies.

A few points about debt management

First of all, debt management is only an option if you can`t keep up with payments to your debts. If you can keep on making the payments in full, lenders will expect you to.

Second, you can damage your credit rating (potentially increasing the difficulty and/or cost of obtaining further credit for the six years it stays on there) if you fail to repay any debt in the way you originally agreed. This is true whether or not you actually join a debt management plan.

And third, repaying any debt more slowly can end up costing more, as it`ll be accruing interest for longer. Of course, if lenders agree to freeze interest, this won`t be an issue.

I`m in debt - what should I do?
25 August 2009
If you`re in debt and not sure what to do about it, the important thing is not to waste any time. In general, the sooner you address your debt problems, the easier they`ll be to sort out. ... >>

What happens once my IVA is approved?
31 July 2009
If you`re struggling with unmanageable debt, an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) could be right for you. ... >>

What is a Debt Relief Order (DRO)?
6 April 2009
A Debt Relief Order (DRO) is a form of insolvency which is designed to help people who have relatively low debt, little surplus income and few valuable assets - and who have no realistic chance of paying off their debts within a reasonable time. ... >>

Debt advice & tracker mortgages
25 February 2009
For anyone with a tracker mortgage, the last three months have been an exciting time. Whatever else is happening to their finances, at least they’ve been able to watch their mortgage payments go down, as the Bank of England’s base rate dropped from 4.5% at the start of October 2008 to 1.5% in January 2009. ... >>

Debt management – helping avoid repossession
4 February 2009
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) suggest that mortgagors around the UK are finding it harder to manage their debts. At the end of June 2008, 1.33% of mortgages were at least three months in arrears. Three months later, this figure had risen to 1.44% – and by the end of 2008, 1.57% (182,600 mortgages) were in this group. ... >>

Debt management and the credit crunch
28 November 2008
Is debt management a realistic option in a today’s economic climate? For people in debt, a credit crunch can be a worrying time – lenders are worried about lending out more money, which can make certain debt solutions difficult to come by, and often more expensive. ... >>

What does debt help mean?
24 November 2008
A lot of ‘debt’ websites (including this one) talk about ‘debt help’, but what does it really mean? Debt help isn’t a specific kind of debt solution. It means what it says: help with your debts. ... >>