Credit Crunch: Do You Need Help and Advice for Your Debts?

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In this current financial climate, there are thousands of people who are unfortunatly in debt.

No matter how much the amount you are in debt by it can be a daily burden on your shoulders, and run your day to day life.

I want to help all those people out there who constanly worry about the money that they owe, from when they wake  up in the morning to when they go to bed at night.

I worked within a det management company, and i feel that we are thought of along the same line as parking attendants, an annoying fact of life.

Whilst some of the people who work within this field of work do have a bit of a god complex, some debt advisors/collecters do generally want to help, and will see you as a person with general money worries and not just a referance number.

I suggest when you call up your company to start sorting out a repayment plan you hang up on the former until you get through to the latter.

Things you can do when paying off your debt, and things your debt company have to agree to.

1. You can set up a repayment plan that is comfortable for you in your current financial position
2. Your account can be put on hold in a varity of situations for a small period of time (will be reviewed)
3. If your agreed repayments are below the charge of interest, this interest has to be stopped.
4. Do you have insuranse, see if your insurance covers you and makes payments whilst you are unable to pay
5. If you feel you were lent this money irresponsably then you can contest the money that you owe
6. You can offer to pay the debt off in a one off settlement that will close your accoung perminantly, offer to pay 50% of your debt and see what reponse you get.

Lets go through the steps in more detail

1. If you want to set up a payment plan that is less than the original agreement (credit card/loan) or need longer than 3/6 months (the optimum time that a collecter would prefer to collect in) then you will need to supply a list of your incomes and all your monthly outgoings along with other debts you need to make payments to.
2. From this information your company can then work out on a pro rata basis the amount that is comfortable for you to pay
3. In a number of situations your company may write back to you and ask you to curb/cut back some of your spending if it is not seen as essential to your day to day needs whilst you have debts.
4. Once a plan is set you must keep to these payments or the letters (charged to your balance) will start again, if plans are broken on a regular basis then the company may not agree to further plans
5. All plans are reviewed to see if you details have changed and if you are able to start paying more per month. You may need to resend your financial details if the plan has been in place for a long period.

Putting your account on hold

1. Your account can be put on hold if you are unable to work due accidents or illness
2. If you feel that your debts are just to much for you to deal with your account can be put on hold whilst a third party tries to deal with your debts (such as the Citizans advice or CCCS)

Interest stop

1. If your repaymets are below the amount of monthly interest that is charged to your account this has to be stopped.
2. Make sure that it has been stopped
3. Once you are able to increase your payments interest will start to be applied again
4. If your payments are only slightly above the interest charge then still ask for interest to be stopped for a short period. This may be done if your reduced payments are only going to be for a short period.

Insurance

1. When you take out a credit card or loan you are offered insurance
2. Look into what your cover included and see if your insurance will make your monthly payments whilst you are in your current situation

Irrisponsible lending

1. If you feel that you should not have been lent this money then explain in writing why you think this is
2. Was you talked into taking out a larger amount
3. Advised not to disclose other payments that you had to make at the time
4. If this can be proved then look into it as irresponsible lending has to stop
   

One off settlement

1. Offer a one off payment that will close your account in a full and final settlement
2. Offer an amount that you are able to pay, do not offer a settlement if you are not able to pay it.
3. You may be able to offer this settlment amount in 2/3 instalments
4. A company will take a settlement offer if they feel that it is the best option for them, having an account on their books for a long time is work for them
5. Ask for all previous letter fees, interest payment and late payment pentalties to be removed and a new balance to be sent to you with the view to paying off this balance if within your abilties to pay.
6. If this amount once all fees and charges are removed is still to large, still make an offer on this amount

Most importantly if you feel that you do not owe this debt, you did not take out this loan/credit card ask for details of the signed agreement if they are unable to show you this information advise them that they are unable to collect this debt without proof of a signed contract.

I hope this helps please let me know if you want anymore help, or if i can point you in the right direction i will.