Debt Management
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This option gives you one monthly payment while focusing on negotiating interest rates & making minimum monthly payments to your creditors.
What is Debt Management?
A Debt Management plan (also known as Credit Counseling) is a formal agreement between a debtor and creditor(s). Once approved your debts are combined into one payment managed by the Debt Management company. They will try to negotiate lower interest rates directly with the creditors and arrange to make monthly payments on your behalf.
Debt Management plans are individually tailored based on what can be realistically afforded on a monthly basis. To achieve an accurate figure, an income and expenditure test will establish what monies are coming into the household and what is being paid out. Income and expenditures include everything, such as rent/mortgage, secured loans, utility bills, and essential living expenses (food, TV, clothing, etc.). Once the income expenditures are completed, the leftover amount is your disposable income which is divided amongst the creditors enrolled in the Debt Management program.
Things to know before choosing Debt Management
- Debt Management is a great option for people that don’t have a problem making the monthly payments to their creditors but seem to be getting nowhere with each payment and don’t want to take the next 20-30 years to pay off their debts. Debt Management can generally be completed in 3 to 5 years. It doesn’t give much monthly relief versus what your current payments are but helps to reduce the time frame in which you get out of debt paying roughly the same amount.
- Unlike Debt Resolution (where you save up money for a lump sum settlement), payments are made to your creditors on a monthly basis. This is great for individuals that do not want to remain behind on their debts. But you should be aware that anytime a third party controls your finances, and makes monthly payments on your behalf, they will show up on your credit as third-party financial assistance. The benefit is you will eliminate debt off your credit report throughout the program (which is 30% of what creates your credit), and you will save money by clearing out your debt much sooner than you would just paying minimums.
- Even though you are making monthly payments to your creditors, you cannot continue to use your credit cards. When going through a Debt Management program your credit cards will be closed. The point of the program is to get rid of your debt, and part of that process is making sure you don’t create more debt with the same cards you are trying to get under control.
- Debt Management programs generally don’t have minimum debt amounts, and you can enroll a wide variety of debts. Since you are making monthly payments to your creditors, and not trying to settle, there are less restrictions of what you can enroll compared to a Debt Resolution program.