Successful Credit Card Settlement

Credit card companies know exactly what they are doing when they make it so easy for us to get the things we want, even though we can not afford them. When money is tight it is all too simple to turn to our flexible friends for help. The problem creeps up slowly as the debt builds up, until the burden of paying them back becomes impossible. The credit card payments then exacerbate the problem still further, making us rely even more on credit and borrowing.

The ease with which we can spend money with credit cards is one reason why serious credit card debt has become such a problem for so many people today. At this point many people can see no way to get rid of the debt, so they start considering serious options such as filing bankruptcy. While this may be necessary in some cases, there are far more times when it can be avoided by using a negotiated settlement.

The main principle of successful credit card settlement is that new agreements are negotiated with each card company, which result in them writing off a large part of what you owe them. While that sounds simple, it is a complicated area and the negotiations can take anything from weeks to years. The basic choice you have is whether to try to do this directly on your own, or to do what the majority choose to do and use the services of a debt settlement company.

Successful credit card settlement is possible to achieve on your own, provided you have the right understanding of the processes that card companies go through when dealing with outstanding debts. A lot depends on the timescale of your approaches and when you choose to try to make a deal to settle. Knowing when to negotiate and what to say makes the difference between getting no settlement deal and writing off over half the debt.

To go into that without help is unlikely to yield great results, though there are various online resources that can teach you about the process and help to give you an understanding of how to reach successful settlement deals yourself.

The alternative is to approach a debt settlement company, who will have highly experienced negotiators, who know exactly how and when to approach creditors in order to maximise the discounts on the debt. The best companies will have relationships with many creditors already, which can make the settlement process that much more effective.

If you do decide that the best way to successful credit card settlement is to work with a professional company, you should exercise some caution with regard to selecting the company to use. Debt settlement has gained a bit of a reputation from some companies who do not operate ethically or responsibly. Unfortunately many people have fallen prey to organisations who take large advance fees from people and then fail to gain any reductions on their debts.

It is important not to let this put you off the whole settlement process, because it works very well when done by reputable companies, but you should indeed be put off from taking any chances with who you use. There are many good companies and you will be perfectly OK provided you make sure you only deal with reputable organisations who are well established and can demonstrate a history of successful credit card settlement. The other essential precaution is to approach at least two or three so that you can see who provides the best proposal, and find out who you feel most at ease with.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable online debt settlement companies and UK IVA providers.

How Do I Consolidate My Debts

Debt consolidation is a widespread method of tackling debt problems, and involves consolidating lots of different debts into one, lower monthly payment. There are two different approaches to debt consolidation, one of which involves taking out a new loan, and the other type which does not involve any borrowing at all.

The type of consolidation which involves borrowing makes use of what are called debt consolidation loans, and this is the usual interpretation of what the term debt consolidation means in the UK. When the term is used in the US it more often than not refers to consolidation through a Debt Management Plan, which is an option common in both the UK and US.

Taking out a loan to consolidate your debts can be useful, but is also risky if not used properly. Just the idea of taking on more debt when you are already in debt is one which obviously requires careful thought. It is only worthwhile if you are sure that you are paying off debts which are at a higher interest rate than the new loan you will be taking out. It is usually only suitable for relatively small amounts of debt, which are at a particularly high rate of interest.

If you are not careful about how you do this, you could end up paying more in the long run, even if your monthly payments are lower. Sometimes people are offered a new loan and all they look at is the monthly payment. This is dangerous because the amount could be lower, but you might be paying it off for much longer, meaning it costs you more in the end.

The debt management method of consolidating your debts is therefore generally preferable to a loan, and is more suitable for dealing with larger amounts of debt. The process involves using a debt management company to negotiate with your creditors in order to reach new agreements for repaying what you owe. This normally means reductions in the interest charges you pay and changing the repayment terms to bring them in line with what you can afford.

The company deal with all your creditors to end up with you only having to pay one affordable amount every month to the company, who then share it out among the creditors. The main benefits being that your monthly outgoings go down and you no longer have lots of different payments to make, and your creditors stop chasing you for money.

If you want to take part in this type of debt management plan, the debts you can include must be what are called unsecured debts. This just means that they are things like money owed to credit card companies, personal loans, bank charges etc, rather than debts secured against assets like your home. Your mortgage, for example, cannot be included in a debt management plan.

If this is something you wish to explore further, the most important thing to do is exercise caution with regard to finding a debt management company to work with. While there are plenty to choose from, unfortunately there are many who will happily offer you a plan, but it will be very much more to their financial gain than yours.

For this reason you need to ensure that you find reputable, ethical and well established companies with experienced debt advisors. You want people who will look at your situation and tell you what is best for you, whether that happens to be a debt management plan or not. Finally, always approach at least two or three, to ensure you can compare the proposals they make.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Debt Payment Plans - Using Debt Management Plans To Get Rid Of Debt

Debt payment plans are known by various other names too, including debt management plans, debt payment programs and debt consolidation. These terms all means the same thing, which is a process of consolidating all your debts into a plan that leaves you with one monthly payment, which is lower than the sum of your old debts. An important point about this kind of debt payment plan is that it does not involve borrowing any more money, so does not increase your burden of debt any further.

Debt payment plans are arranged by debt management companies, who offer this service in the US, UK and other countries. You will need to approach a company that operates in your own country of residence. What the plan involves is the management company talking to your creditors to agree new deals for paying back their money. This tends to mean that interest charges can be reduced and some fees are often waived. The result of the new arrangements will be that your debt stops getting bigger and you get agreement to new payment amounts that you can afford.

When agreements have been set up with all your creditors, all you have to do is make one payment to the debt management company, and they pass it on to all your creditors. The more obvious benefits of such arrangements are that you only have to worry about one easy payment, and you no longer have creditors phoning you all day long to get their money.

You normally need to have quite a large amount of debt for a debt payment plan to be suitable for you, and the type of debts must be what are known as unsecured debts. All this really means is that you cannot include debts which are legally secured to assets, such as your mortgage. Unsecured debts refer to such things as personal loans, credit card bills and other unpaid bills.

The other requirement if you are interested in arranging a debt payment plan is that you have enough spare income to meet the regular repayments. It can be a useful exercise to work out your monthly income and expenditure, to see how much you could afford to pay. Include all your regular household costs except your debts, and see what you have left each month that you could put toward the debt payment plan.

If you find that you do not have enough spare money to meet the repayments on a plan, then you may need to look at other alternatives such as debt settlement. This is suitable for people with serious debts and not much spare income, and involves negotiating settlements with your creditors that include writing off significant amounts of the debt you owe. The equivalent to debt settlement in the UK is called an individual voluntary agreement, or IVA.

Most importantly, once you understand what a debt payment plan is and decide you wish to look into it, take some time and care over which companies you contact to help you. It is important to approach at least two of three, so that you can compare them against each other, but it is more important to only approach reputable companies. Look for well established and reliable organisations with a history of helping people to get rid of debt.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

What Assets Can Be Taken In Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a drastic step, and one usually taken by people who feel they have no other alternative. When you are declared bankrupt you essentially lose control of all your assets. In the US there are certain modest personal exemption levels for different types of asset, intended just to cover the essential things you need to get by. Anything above these levels will be liquidated to raise money to pay off your creditors. What these exemption levels are is governed by state law and therefore varies from state to state.

In the UK full control of your assets is transferred to your trustee, with the only exceptions usually being what are classed as essential items, which includes clothes, bedding, basic items of furniture and any equipment you need to carry out your work. This can also include one vehicle if it is essential to your income. Even if some items are essential, you could still find them being sold and replaced by cheaper alternatives if they are particularly valuable.

By filing bankruptcy you basically lose everything, and there are lasting consequences in terms of your credit, future employment and reputation. It is a very serious step to take and one that should not be taken lightly. While bankruptcy proceedings will sometimes be started by your creditors, if you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy yourself, you need to ensure that you are fully aware of, and have properly considered, the possible alternatives.

To be looking at bankruptcy we will take it as read that you have a very serious amount of debt and you do not have the means to pay if back. In this situation, some people think that means their only option is to file bankruptcy, but it isn’t. You are probably beyond the reach of a debt management plan or debt consolidation, but there are more radical solutions which involve seriously reducing the amount of debt you owe.

The alternatives to bankruptcy will partly depend on what country you live in. For US residents, the main alternative to bankruptcy is called debt settlement, or sometimes debt negotiation. This involves using a specialist negotiator to work out new settlement terms with all your creditors, which normally means agreeing to significantly reduce the amount owed in return for an up front payment. You do not have to have money available for the up front payment, you just keep paying an affordable amount each month into a separate account. This money gradually builds up and is used towards the settlement payments as each agreement is reached.

If you are a UK resident, there is an equivalent to debt settlement, which is even better is some respects. The government introduced something called IVAs, or individual voluntary arrangements, and these are specifically designed to give you an alternative to the drastic step of declaring bankruptcy. They are formal agreements, which like debt settlement, involve negotiated agreements with your creditors, and usually involve a substantial part of your debts being written off. Because they are legally binding agreements, one advantage of them is that if you can get 75% of your creditors to agree, then the rest are legally bound by the arrangement too.

If you are considering bankruptcy and have not already discussed alternatives with a debt settlement or IVA company, then you should certainly do so. Do ensure that you only deal with reputable companies though, otherwise your situation could be made worse if you are given poor advice. Always look for well established companies who already have a reputation for delivering responsible debt solutions successfully. You should also consult more than one company, as offers and proposals will vary.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable online debt settlement companies and UK IVA providers.

Reputable Debt Management Companies And How To Find Them

When you have serious debt problems and you turn to a debt management company for help, you really cannot afford to take chances. All too often people make the decision to deal with their debt problems once and for all, they sign up with a company, and a year or so down the line they find that they have handed lots of money over in fees, but that their creditors are still chasing them for all their debts. This is a consequence of getting involved in one of the less reputable organisations who are currently operating in the field of debt help.

If you are going down the debt management route you need to ensure that you choose a reputable company to work with. Before you go that far, however, you should make sure that debt management is the right option for you, and that you have an understanding of the process you will be going through. The reason you need to understand the process is so that you can make an informed decision. It is also important to make sure you are opting for this route because it is the best solution to your problems, rather than because that is the only option you are aware of.

Debt management is sometimes referred to as debt consolidation, though this should not be mixed up with the type of debt consolidation that means taking out a loan. No borrowing or loans are involved in this kind of debt consolidation. The process involves a skilled negotiator dealing with your creditors on your behalf, to come to new arrangements for paying back your debts. The person will work for you to reach agreements that result in new payment amounts, which are combined together into one affordable monthly payment. You only have one payment to be concerned with, which you pay direct to the debt management company.

A reputable organisation will deal with your creditors for you, so you should not be hassled for payment any longer. The negotiations usually involve reducing or at least freezing your interest charges, or even writing charges off, which stops your debt growing and makes it easier to fix a timescale for becoming debt free. Debt management does not involve writing off any of the actual debt, so your creditors do end up being paid back all the principle amounts that they are owed.

For a debt management plan to work, you need to have some money spare each month to put towards the payments. You will therefore be expected to have a regular income. The debts you can include in the plan will need to be what are called unsecured debts, which are things like credit cards and household bills, rather than mortgages or hire purchase agreements.

If you think you will not have any, or enough, money spare each month to set up a debt management plan, you still have options available to you apart from bankruptcy. The main alternative is known as debt settlement, and is a process that involves negotiated settlements with your creditors which include writing off large amounts of your debt. The equivalent of debt settlement for UK residents is called an IVA, or individual voluntary arrangement.

Once you are sure that debt management is your best option, you need to find some reputable debt management companies to approach. The key points to remember when looking at companies is to only approach those who are well established and have a track record of helping lots of people already, and always approach two or three in order to compare the proposals they can offer you. Following reviews and recommendations can speed up the process of coming up with a shortlist of reputable companies.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Letters To Write To Creditors - Advice About Negotiating Debt Settlements

When you are deep in debt and trying to find a way out of it, one option is to see if you can reach an agreement with your creditors yourself. This is a very positive step, and is certainly better than ignoring the situation and hoping that it might go away. If you are able to reach agreements with your creditors to change the repayment terms on your debts so that they become affordable for you again, this is certainly one of the most direct ways of dealing with debt problems.

Writing letters to your creditors is the best way of negotiating, as it ensures that you can state clearly what you want to say, and makes it easy to keep clear records of what you have said and done and what their responses are. You will need to write several letters, starting off with an initial one to explain what your situation is, how you got into it and to say that you are trying to address the problem. You need to ask each creditor to confirm exactly how much money they are owed, and get them to state clearly any interest charges or late payment fees included in that.

You then need to use the information you get back to make a list of all your creditors and how much you owe to each one. Before you can write letters to your creditors again, you need to split them into two groups. In one group you put all your priority creditors, and the other your secondary creditors. Priority creditors are ones where the consequences of not paying are serious, such as your mortgage. Secondary creditors are generally unsecured debts such as credit cards, store cards and unpaid household bills.

Before you can make offers to your creditors, you need to be able to demonstrate how much you can afford, otherwise they will not know if your offer is reasonable or not. You do this by preparing a personal financial statement showing all your income and expenditure. Do not include your secondary creditors in this for now. Your financial statement will show you how much money you have left over each month to go towards your debts.

This is when you write letters back to your creditors to make offers of payment. The fairest way to do it is to share out what you have spare proportionately among your creditors. This will be the easiest to justify and defend if you are challenged over the amount. Do not be persuaded to increase your offer to one at the cost of another, and start to make the payments you have offered even if they refuse your offer. That way at least you are continuing to pay off some of the debt.

This kind of personal debt settlement can be effective, but you need to know what you are doing and be very well organised too. If you do not feel confident about taking on the process yourself, you could approach a debt management or debt settlement company to help you. They will go through your finances with you and make a proposal for a way forward that best suits your needs.

If you do decide to talk to a professional debt advisor, you should be aware that some are better than others, and that some are definitely to be avoided. To make sure you get good advice, you should only approach reputable organisations who have been in business some time, and who can demonstrate a history of successfully helping people like you. You should also approach more than one, so you can make a comparison between what they offer you.

Read a full guide to debt negotiating on the author's Debt Help Website.

Are Debt Settlement Companies Safe?

The current economic climate has certainly brought many bad consequences with it, but one perhaps less obvious effect is the glut of rip-off merchants getting on the debt help bandwagon. I suppose it was inevitable that some people would see the financial problems of people as an opportunity make a quick buck, but it is still disheartening.

The good news is that these people are the exception and their irresponsible practices should not be taken to mean that the process of debt settlement (or negotiation as it is often known) is inherently bad or that the good debt settlement companies do not help many thousands of people to get out of debt each year. You just need to be clear in your mind about what the process involves, so that you know what to expect and what questions to ask if you do approach a company. You also need an awareness of the things to look for when you want to find a reputable debt settlement company, so that you can easily avoid the bad ones.

Debt settlement should not be confused with debt management or debt consolidation. Unlike the other two, it involves a negotiated reduction in the actual amount of money you owe. With debt management and consolidation, you still end up paying the full debt back, just on different terms which make it more affordable for you.

Settlement companies are specialists in negotiating with creditors to get substantial discounts off the original amount owed. It is not unusual for more than half the debt to be written off. By achieving these huge reductions they are able to offer you a much lower monthly repayment amount than a debt management plan could. Debt settlement is usually for people with very serious debt problems, who may well be considering drastic alternatives such as bankruptcy.

Any debt help company needs to be paid for their services, but the ones who have caused concern and dissatisfaction are those who have charged substantial up front fees and then not delivered on the promised debt reduction. With a good debt settlement company you will not have this problem, as their fee is likely to be only a percentage of the amount they manage to reduce your debts by. On this basis you cannot lose. The best ones even offer a written guarantee of what the results of your settlement will be, so you are perfectly safe. Go to the right debt settlement company for help and you will not have a problem.

The way debt settlement works is that you stop paying your creditors and start paying a regular amount in to a separate account. The debt settlement company will deal with your creditors on your behalf, and negotiate deals to settle your debts at the best possible rates. They know exactly how to time this to maximise the discounts they can achieve. The money you pay into the account builds up and is used to settle debts as each one is agreed.

One of the main benefits of using a debt settlement company is that you only have one monthly payment to find, and this is an amount that you can afford. You are also freed from being hounded by creditors as the settlement company deals with them for you. Debt settlement provides a much less drastic alternative to bankruptcy, and leaves you debt free within a set time period.

Debt settlement is tried and tested in the US though is not widespread in the UK because there is a good alternative, called an IVA. This is an individual voluntary arrangement and also involves writing off large portions of your debt to make it affordable to pay off the remainder in a set period.

So debt settlement companies are not all bad, but if you are considering it you should take great care to choose the right company to work with. The best starting point is to look for well established and reputable settlement companies, who have a history of solving serious debt problems successfully. Always apply to more than one, so that you can compare what you are offered, as proposals do vary.

Read recommendations for reputable online debt settlement companies.

Negotiate Credit Card Settlement - How To Settle Your Credit Card Debts

We all use credit cards and we probably all spend a bit more than we really ought to, but when finances are tight it is really easy to slip gradually into fairly serious debt. It gets to a point where it becomes a vicious circle as your card bills rise, leaving you less and less each month, leading to even more reliance on credit cards. The end result for a great many people is a mountain of debt to many different card companies, with no apparent way of ever getting enough money to pay it all back.

So you wonder what to do and look around at possible solutions. Too many people end up trying to solve their debt in ways that simply push the problem further down the line. Taking out new cards to pay off the old ones for example or getting a debt consolidation loan to pay off all the cards. The problem here is that you are not actually getting rid of any of your debt, just transferring it somewhere else.

When your credit card debt has built up to a really serious amount, as it does for many of us, you need to find a solution that will actually lead to the card companies being satisfied and leaving you alone. If your monthly payments are far more than you can afford, then your solution has to involve negotiating new terms to settle the debts. This can range from freezing interest charges and agreeing smaller payments, to agreeing to write off a proportion of the debt in exchange for a lump sum payment.

The solution you end up with will depend on many factors, but you essentially have three choices. You can either try to negotiate with the card companies yourself, use a debt management company to set up a payment plan (Debt Management Plan), or use a debt settlement company to reach a negotiated settlement with your credit card companies.

Anyone who has tried negotiating with a credit card company will know how tough this can be, and it is not for everyone. However, if you are able to do it well, you can maximise the benefits of any reductions you manage to achieve. The process is made harder if you do not understand the way card companies work and the systems they use when dealing with unpaid debts. An inside knowledge can mean the difference between getting agreement to write off 60% of the debt or being sued instead.

The debt management approach is to use debt negotiators to agree new terms with your creditors, which allow you to just make one affordable monthly payment instead of all your previous debts. The process does not involve writing off any of your debt, but usually does mean freezing or reducing interest charges or late payment fees.

Using a debt settlement company to negotiate credit card settlement means that experienced negotiators work on your behalf to agree new deals with the credit card companies to settle your debts. This often, but not always, means that the debt is drastically reduced in exchange for a lump sum payment. As you are unlikely to have a lump sum to settle with, you just keep paying a regular monthly amount into a separate account, which builds up and is used towards the settlement payments.

While debt settlement companies are common in the US, it is not a widespread practice in the UK, because there is a better alternative, called an IVA. This is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, and, like debt settlement, usually involves writing off a good proportion of your debt.

If you would like to negotiate settlements on your own, there is help and advice available on how to do this. If you wish to use a debt management or debt settlement company to help you, there are a few things to bear in mind when deciding which ones to approach. You may hear stories about debt settlement being a rip-off or a scam. The fact is that debt settlement is not a scam, but some companies have used it to take advantage of people in debt, giving it a bad name.

As well as not wanting someone who is trying to rip you off, neither do you want someone who just isn’t very good at debt settlement negotiation. You therefore need to take care to use only reputable companies. Check that they are well established and have a track record of successfully negotiating credit card settlement for many other people. You should also approach two or three companies in order to compare what they can offer you. Most have a website with a very simple online form to start the ball rolling.

Read recommendations for reputable online debt settlement companies.

Can You Be Sued For Credit Card Debts?

When credit card debts go unpaid, it is not at all unusual to be threatened with legal action. When this happens, it is reasonable enough to wonder if they really can sue you or whether this is just another ploy to scare you into paying back the money they are chasing. Debt collection agencies often use this threat, and we all know that some of the less reputable collectors are not afraid of some slightly underhand practices if they think it will get a result.

It is certainly possible to be sued for a debt by a credit card company, though it will cost them money to do it, so it is by no means guaranteed that they will. They will weigh up lots of factors when they are deciding whether to sue for a debt or not, because all they are really interested in is doing whatever will cost them least and get them the most money back.

Being sued for debt is certainly something you should avoid if you possibly can, not least because a court order against you has a lasting affect on your credit rating and could lead to problems getting credit for quite some time. It is most likely to happen if you just ignore calls from the credit card company or debt collector. The best thing you can do to avoid being sued is to take action to deal with the situation. Ignoring a problem never makes it go away.

What action you take will depend on your particular situation. Assuming you have quite a serious amount of debt, and cannot afford to keep up with the repayments, your best option is probably going to be debt settlement. The reason that this works in serious situations is that it involves reducing the actual amount of debt you owe, making it more possible to pay the remaining debts off at a rate you can afford.

It is possible to negotiate debt settlement yourself if you have a good understanding of how credit cards operate, but for most of us, we need the services of an expert who understands what makes the card companies tick. A good negotiator might be able to get well over half your debts written off, whereas someone without their experience and negotiating skills may get no agreement at all and you still end up in court.

So you best bet for a serious credit card debt problem is to find a good debt settlement company to work on your behalf. There are of course fees involved in debt settlement, but these are normally just a fraction of the amount that they manage to save you, so you are still much better off. The principle is that they deal with your creditors on your behalf to agree new, reduced terms for settling your debts. This will often involve writing off large sums of money in exchange for a one-off payment. It can also include freezing or reducing interest charges and re-structuring repayments.

The net result should be that your overall debt is drastically reduced, and you just have to make one monthly payment into a special account. The negotiations take varying amounts of time, and as the money in your account grows, it is used to pay the card companies the agreed settlements.

The theory is straightforward and it works, but you need to be cautious over choosing your debt settlement company, as the process is open to exploitation by less scrupulous organisations and individuals. People in debt are in a vulnerable situation and can be easy pray for companies who are great at charging expensive fees without actually delivering on the settlement.

Be very careful to choose long established companies with a good reputation. The best ones will have already settled huge amounts of debt for many people, so these are the ones to look for. It also makes sense to contact two or three and see which one gives you the best offer, and also which you feel most comfortable working with.

Read recommendations for the most reputable and best debt management companies in the UK and US.

Short Term Online Personal Loan - Advice About Online Cash Advance Lenders

If you are in need of a short term online personal loan, you are in luck, because many companies in the UK and the US now specialise in exactly this type of lending. With the development of the internet, it has become extremely easy to find websites where you can apply for a short term online personal loan and have cash in your bank account within as little as an hour after you apply online.

This type of online lending is known as payday lending and is always for relatively small amounts of money and for short periods of time. One advantage of this type of loan is that a lot of these online lenders do not require a credit check before agreeing to lend you money. This is extremely useful if you happen to have problems with your credit rating.

Online payday loans are more accessible than most other personal loans because of the fact that they are for smaller amounts and for only a few weeks at a time. This makes it less risky for the lenders to give you cash, as they can be sure of getting it back once you have been paid again. This is why the main things that a payday loan company will check with you before agreeing to give you a loan are your employment status, how much you earn and your bank account details.

So provided you are in work and have a bank account, you should not have a problem getting some money, but there are some things to bear in mind about using payday loan companies. Firstly, you should think carefully about why it is that you require this cash in the first place. These short term online personal loans are really only for unusual situations such as a sudden unexpected bill or expense. You need to take care not to use them to fill a general gap in your income that is not caused by any one-off situation. This sort of loan will not help you solve a debt problem and there are other, much better ways of doing that.

Also, you need to take care about the companies you use for payday loans. The fact that they are now a widespread online service means that all sorts of people have got in on the act, and they are not all responsible or reputable. The interest rates on payday loans are extremely high, but provided you only have the loan for the few weeks you should have, this is not a problem. The difficulties can arise if you do not pay the loan back on the due date. Less reputable companies will keep adding disgracefully high penalty charges to your loan, and your debt can become impossible to get out of.

For these reasons you should ensure you use only well established short term online lenders, who have a good reputation for responsible lending and having helped many other people in your situation. The easiest way to avoid the less scrupulous companies is to follow personal recommendations and reviews. It is also sensible to approach more than one company, so that you can compare rates and charges.

Find reviews and recommendations for the best direct payday lenders in the US and UK.

How Do I Eliminate My Consumer Debt - Advice On The Best Ways To Pay Off Debt

In these financially difficult times, more and more people are finding themselves with a serious burden of consumer debt. When times are hard many people turn to credit as a way of keeping going, but all too often the amount of debt gradually rises to a point where it becomes impossible to repay it. This is a very common situation and one which can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety as creditors chase their money and the interest charges just keep on growing.

The good news is that there is no debt problem that is so serious you cannot get rid of it eventually. The best solution for you will depend on your situation, but in general there are a few basic options. Most of us are in debt to a greater or lesser extent, but this article is about the times when it gets out of control and becomes a serious problem. The solutions I will cover are therefore designed for fairly serious amounts of debt.

The first option is a way of restructuring all your debts to come up with a plan that allows you to make a single monthly payment which covers all your debts. This is called debt management and is also known as debt consolidation in the United States. This is not the same thing as a debt consolidation loan, as debt management does not involve any further borrowing. These informal arrangements are known as debt management plans or debt payment plans.

The basic principle is that you use a debt management company to deal with your creditors on your behalf, and they negotiate with them to agree new repayment terms that bring the payments within your means. They do this for all of your creditors and you end up making one single payment to the debt management company, who then pay your creditors for you.

To take part in a debt management plan you need to have quite a lot of unsecured debt, usually to several different companies. Unsecured debts are things like credit cards, unpaid bills, etc, rather than mortgages or secured loans. You also need a source of income and must have some money left over each month after paying your essential household costs.

For those with even more serious debt problems, who cannot afford the monthly payments for a debt management plan, there are still better alternatives than bankruptcy. In the US the alternative is known as debt settlement or debt negotiation. This is a process in which a specialist company will negotiate with your creditors to agree settlement terms for your debts. This will normally mean reaching agreements which involve having a large part of your debt written off, in return for a lump sum payment. Negotiated agreements will vary a lot, depending on the nature of the debts and the creditors involved.

For UK citizens the equivalent to debt settlement is an IVA, or Individual Voluntary Arrangement. This is a scheme set up by the government and provides a less drastic alternative to bankruptcy. These are formal agreements which normally last for five years, and can result in getting up to 75% of your debts written off. When your debts are so serious that your only choice appears to be bankruptcy, then debt settlement or an IVA can provide a far more preferable option, without any of the publicity, stigma or lasting consequences that bankruptcy brings with it.

A great many companies now offer debt management, debt settlement and IVAs, and it is very important to take care with how you go about deciding which one to work with. You should be aware that many companies only came into existence to take advantage of the current financial situation, and many care much more about making money for themselves than they do about finding the best solution for people in a debt crisis.

Always use well established and reputable companies that have a record of having successfully helped many people out of debt already. Even with good companies, the proposals will vary a lot, so you should approach at least two or three and compare their offers. This will also give you a chance to see which ones you feel comfortable with in terms of the people you will need to deal with.

Read recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Can A Collection Agency Sue For Debt - Strategies To Help Avoid Being Sued For Debt

Having a debt collection agency phoning you up every hour of the day is bad enough, but being sued by them is something altogether more serious. In most cases, a collection agency will be chasing a debt on behalf of the company that the money is owed to. The debt is still owed to the original company and the agency is just working on a commission basis.

In these circumstances the threat of taking you to court may just be intended to worry you into paying up. However, you should be aware that you can actually be sued for a debt you have not paid. While the legal action has to be on behalf of whoever the debt is actually owed to, that company may be asking the debt collection agency to move forward with the legal proceedings on their behalf.

It is also quite possible that a collection agency might sue you directly, and if this happens, it almost certainly means that they have bought the debt from the original organisation that you owed the money to. In this situation you then legally owe the money to the debt collection agency, not the original company you borrowed the money from.

Buying debts is not at all uncommon, and happens a lot. The process is usually that the collection agency will pay a fraction of the total value of the debt to the company, then try to recover as much of it as they can. This allows the original holder of the debt to get rid of it while getting something back for it rather than nothing. The collection agency then have to recover as much as they can above the amount they paid for it, otherwise they do not make any money.

So depending on the circumstances, either the original company that you owe money to, or a debt collection agency that you have never heard of, can sue you to recover a debt. They will do this if they think it is in their interests and likely to be the course of action that gets them the most money back. Being sued and having a court order against you is definitely something to be avoided if at all possible, and there are options available to you that can help to prevent this.

When you are in serious debt and being threatened with court action, your choices are rather limited and many people start thinking about bankruptcy, which is a very serious decision. Another, far less drastic option, however, is to contact a professional debt advisor about the possibility of a debt management plan. These are also known as debt consolidation plans or programs and are available in both the US and UK. This should not be confused with a debt consolidation loan, which means borrowing more money. These plans involve no further borrowing.

When a debt management plan is set up, an experienced negotiator will deal with your creditors on your behalf, to agree new terms for paying back what you owe. It normally means freezing or reducing interest charges or any late payment penalties and setting up new repayment terms which make it possible for you to pay the debt back. The result of this is that you only have one affordable payment to find every month, and your creditors stop hassling you as they have to go through the debt management company instead.

If you do choose to explore this option further, take care to approach at least two companies to compare offers, as they do vary a lot. Be careful about which companies you approach as there are an awful lot to choose from, and unfortunately some are much better at taking hefty fees from you than they are at negotiation good deals on your behalf. It is very important to deal only with reputable and well established companies who have a track record of having successfully helped many other people.

Read reviews and recommendations for the best debt management companies in the UK and US.

Best Debt Management Companies

Debt management is a process that has helped thousands of people to get rid of debt and live a normal, debt free life once again. It is also sometimes known as debt consolidation in the US, though this should not be confused with debt consolidation loans, which are entirely different. Debt management does not involve borrowing any money. The actual arrangement which is set up is known as a Debt Management Plan, or program, and these are arranged by specialist companies who are experienced in helping people deal with serious debt problems.

When you are in the midst of a debt crisis, there is a danger that you can turn to the first organisation you come across who says they can help you. While you may get lucky and hit upon a reputable organisation, it is statistically much easier to get it wrong. There are a lot of financial companies out there, which can seem like a good thing in terms of healthy competition, but the unfortunate fact is that a good proportion of them do not have your interests at the top of their agenda. It is all too easy to be taken advantage of when you are in desperate circumstances and some of these companies do just that.

It is perfectly right and proper that a debt advisor gets paid for providing a useful service. The good thing about the best debt management companies is that the fees you pay them are well worth the money and still leave you much better off that you would have been without their help. Less scrupulous companies, however, will not be transparent about their fees and you can end up paying far more overall than you would have on your own.

The first thing you need to do if you are considering approaching a debt management company is to have a general understanding of the process, so you are less likely to be misled and you will be more aware of what questions you ought to ask. When you set up a debt plan, your advisor will take over all dealings with your creditors, and contact them on your behalf to negotiate new repayment terms. This usually involves freezing or reducing interest charges and late payment fees. Under the new agreements, you just pay one monthly fee to the management company until the end of the program.

The main advantages are that your creditors should stop bothering you as they will be dealt with by the debt advisor and you only have one manageable monthly payment to think about. With the best debt management companies you will also get expert help with preparing a financial statement, which is important in convincing your creditors that you can't afford to pay them back at the original rates. Another advantage of debt management, compared to some of the alternative debt solutions, is that it is an informal agreement, so if your circumstances change, you can change or cancel the agreement.

To make sure you take full advantage of the positive things a debt management plan can offer, it is very important to select one of the best debt management companies. You should always approach at least two companies, so that you can compare what they offer you. You also need to feel comfortable with the individuals from the debt management company, as you will have to talk to them about quite personal information and will be dealing with them for quite some time. Try to avoid companies that are not well established and follow personal recommendations where possible. Making contact is extremely easy and usually done online in the first instance.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Where To Borrow Money When The Banks Won't Loan It To You

A bad credit report can be a real stumbling block, and extremely inconvenient at a time when you desperately need to borrow money. The vast majority of lenders dealing with personal loans and other forms of credit are very choosy these days about who they lend money to. This means that it does not take much to be rejected for a loan, and you do not want too many rejections, because that hurts your credit score even more.

So what is the answer when you need cash but you have bad credit? The good news is that there certainly is an answer, though it does depend on how much money you want and how long you want it for. The way to get round a bad credit report is to go for a type of lending where the credit report is of little importance. Your credit report matters to the mainstream lenders because they are looking at a long term risk and if you stop paying there is not that much they can do about it except sue you.

There are two options open to you, one is for small amounts of cash for a short time, and the other is for large amounts of money, paid back over a longer period of time. For large amounts of money the only option you have is secured borrowing. This is only an option if you have your own home and a mortgage. It involves taking out a loan and using your home as security. In other words your home and the loan are legally bound together, and in the worst case scenario, the lender can arrange to get their money back by selling your house if you default on their payments.

The other, much easier and less drastic step is for cash advance, or ‘payday’ loans. These are widely available in both the UK and US now and are a hugely popular form of short term, and most of all fast, borrowing. The best companies can have cash in your bank account the same day as you apply online, sometimes within an hour! The principle is that you get a cash advance to help you over until you next get paid, which is when you must immediately pay it back.

The beauty of payday loans is that the lenders are generally not interested in your credit report, provided you can show that you have a job and a bank account. Because the amounts being borrowed are relatively small, the lenders know that as soon as you get paid, there will be enough money in your account to cover the debt. That is partly why the process is so quick - the best direct online lenders will give you an answer straight away, with money in your account soon afterwards.

One word of warning with payday loans though. They should not be used to try to deal with ongoing debt problems and they must always be paid back on time. They are designed for occasional unexpected costs and should not be used to plug gaps in your finances that will still be there next month. Fees for payday loans are perfectly reasonable for the short periods for which they are agreed, but as soon as you miss a payment and extend the period of borrowing, the interest will mount up at a startling rate. This is exacerbated by the many less reputable payday lenders who apply ridiculous penalty charges, making it difficult to ever pay the loan off.

There are many payday lenders to choose from, but take are to check rates with at least two or three, and always use well established and reputable companies.

Find reviews and recommendations for the best direct payday lenders in the US and UK.

Get Rid Of Debt Plans - Information and Advice On Debt Payment Plans

You may have heard of special plans to help people get rid of debt, and indeed there are such things which help thousands of people in the US and UK every year. The process is known as debt management and many specialist companies offer plans and programs to help people deal with serious debt problems.

These 'get rid of debt plans' are used when people get overwhelmed by debts. Such plans can only be used for what are known as unsecured debts, which are debts that are not secured against some asset, such as your house. A mortgage, for example, is a secured debt as it is legally tied to your home, so that cannot be included in a debt management plan. The majority of debts dealt with through these debt plans are for credit cards, but they can include personal loans, store cards, bank overdrafts, catalogue debts, etc.

To take advantage of a debt management plan you need to apply to a professional debt management company, who will put you in touch with a debt advisor to go through your finances with you. They will then be able to provide you with possible solutions to suit your particular circumstances.

A debt plan will involve the debt advisor negotiating with all the people you owe money to on your behalf. Your creditors should all stop chasing you and deal with the debt management company, which can be a huge relief in itself. The aim will be to agree new repayment terms with your creditors, so that you can repay the debts at a rate you can afford. This usually involves interest and other charges being at least frozen, and often reduced. The end result is that you just have to make one, lower monthly payment to the debt advisor, who then passes it on among your creditors.

Using this sort of plan to get rid of debt has the advantage of being an informal arrangement, so if your circumstances should alter, you can make changes to your payments, or even stop the plan and make other arrangements. Using expert negotiators to work on your behalf can be particularly useful if you are not confident about being able to negotiate good deals on your own.

There are charges involved in debt management, but provided you are using a reputable and effective company, these will be more than outweighed by the benefits. The better companies will work with you to produce a financial statement, to get a clear understanding of your precise financial situation. They may even provide assistance and guidance on how to manage your money and budgeting.

To take advantage of these 'get rid of debt plans' you need to have a considerable amount of debt, and a steady source of income, so that you can keep up with the monthly payments. If it is found when you work out your finances that you just don’t have enough money left over to make the payments required, you may be more suited to debt settlement, which involves negotiating for a proportion of your debts to be written off. Debt settlement is common in the US, but in the UK the equivalent plan is an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), which can write off up to 75% of your debts.

Whichever kind of plan you choose to pursue, it is of the utmost importance to be aware that there are a great many debt management companies that you can approach, but they will not all give you the same result. The problem is that for every reputable and respectable company there is another whose only aim is to take money from those people who can least afford it. You are going to be making regular payments to the debt management company you choose, so it is vital that you can trust them.

So when you come to decide who to approach for a plan to help you get rid of debt, do not search randomly; follow personal recommendations, check that companies are well established and that they have a solid record of having already helped many other people.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable debt management companies in the UK and US.

Free Money To Pay Off Debt - How To Get Rid Of Debt

Being in debt can be a highly stressful experience, not least because it is often impossible to see any way out of it. When your debts build to a certain point it is easy to feel that you are never going to find a way of getting enough money to pay back the amount that you owe. At times like this it is natural to look at whether there may be free money available to help pay off the debt. This idea is sometimes reinforced by adverts which appear to suggest that such funds are readily available for the asking. Unfortunately this is not the case, and suggestions that there could be are deliberately misleading. However, there are several other very real alternatives which can help people to get out of serious debt, some of which can have the same effect as being given a substantial amount of free money.

While no-one is going to literally hand out free money for you to pay off your debts, there are some schemes which have the result of wiping out large portions of your debt, thus producing the same effect as if you had a substantial gift of cash. Such schemes exist in both the US and the UK and are designed to assist people who are experiencing serious debt problems, usually meaning five figure sums. The process is known as debt settlement in the US and the equivalent scheme in the UK is called an IVA. An IVA is an individual voluntary arrangement and involves making a reduced payment for a fixed period of time, after which your remaining debts are written off.

Debt settlement in the US is when experienced negotiators strike deals with your creditors to write off up to 60% of your debt in exchange for a lump sum payment of the remainder. The debt settlement process can take some time, and will usually mean that you stop making payments to creditors and pay what you can into a separate fund, which is then used towards your newly negotiated settlements. The end result should mean that you are debt free within three to five years.

IVAs were intended to provide an alternative to filing for bankruptcy, and as such are only for serious debt problems. When you set up an IVA you agree to make fixed payments to your creditors, for an amount that you can afford, over a fixed period. This period will not normally exceed five years, and at the end of that time your remaining debts are written off. It is therefore possible to get rid of a large proportion of your debt without having to declare bankruptcy, making an IVA an immensely popular option for many people in the UK with serious debt problems. US residents get the same result with debt settlement companies, who achieve the large reductions in the debt through negotiation with creditors.

There is of course a third option available in both the US and UK, which is the debt management plan. These allow you to consolidate all your unsecured debts into a single monthly payment. Please be aware that these are not debt consolidation loans, which just involve borrowing more money to pay off the full amount that you owe on your debts. With the debt management plan, you do not borrow any more money. What you get is the advantage of having experts negotiate with your creditors to agree reduced payments, lower interest rates, waiving of penalty charges, etc, which all bring down the total of what you need to pay out each month.

The difference between a debt management plan and either debt settlement or an IVA, is that debt management does not involve writing off any of the original debt. If you are unable to afford to meet the required payments for a debt management plan, then debt settlement or an IVA is most likely the best answer.

Whichever kind of scheme you are interested in, you need to take care to approach only reputable and well established companies, as there are many who will not only offer poor advice, but leave you in a worse situation than before you started. The safest way is to start with recommended companies that are known to be ethical and which have already helped many other people to get out of debt. Approach at least two or three and then compare what they come up with before making a decision.

Read recommendations for the most reputable debt management companies.

Where Can I Borrow Money With Bad Credit

When you need to find out where to borrow money with bad credit it can seem like a very difficult challenge if you do not know where to start looking. Fortunately there are many specialist loan companies that offer products specifically aimed at people with bad credit ratings. Not having good credit will certainly be a problem with most of the mainstream lenders who are providing long term unsecured loans. To be reasonably sure of getting their money back over an extended period of time, they will set the bar quite high in terms of the credit record of the people they are prepared to lend to.

While some companies choose to offer ordinary unsecured personal loans to people with a poor credit history too, they are able to do this by charging the people they do lend to much more in interest. For these loan companies, their chances of losing money are that much higher, so they need to recoup a lot more from each loan to compensate. The irony is that people who have had problems and may perhaps struggle to keep up with repayments end up paying more than someone who can manage the repayments relatively easily.

However, standard personal loans are not the only sort of borrowing available, and there are a couple of options for borrowing money which do not depend on having a perfect credit score. For larger amounts of money, the only way to get round a bad credit rating is to use a homeowner secured loan. What this does is secure the loan against your home, which gives the lender the security they need in order to lend you the money.

This provides the lender with the reassurance of knowing that if you do turn out to be someone who does not keep up with repayments, they have the option of having your house sold off in order to reclaim the money you owe them. This is a very real possibility, so secured loans should not be entered into lightly. In the right circumstances, however, secured loans are a way of getting access to quite substantial amounts of lending, even if your credit record shows problems.

People often borrow money to solve problems of personal debt, and this is usually in the form of a debt consolidation loan. While many consolidation loans are unsecured, there are companies that will offer secured debt consolidation as a way of enabling those who would not pass a credit check to access such a loan.

At the other end of the borrowing spectrum there are payday loans, which again are often available to people with bad credit. A payday loan, or cash advance, is always for a relatively small amount of money, and for a very short period of time. Many of the lenders do not worry about your credit rating because of the short term nature of the loan. You will need to have a steady income to get a payday loan, and the lender just wants to know that you will have enough money coming in from the next time you get paid to pay off their loan. So they are more concerned with checking your employment status than your credit history.

Payday loans are without doubt the fastest way to borrow money. Using a good online direct lender, it is now possible to have cash in your bank account on the same day as you apply. While payday loans can be an extremely useful resource in the right circumstances, it is important to remember that they are not a solution to debt or ongoing money shortages. Use them for one-off unexpected expenses only, or risk getting into more and more debt.

If a bad credit rating is stopping you doing what you would like, it is well worth checking your credit report to make sure there are no mistakes on it, and no out of date information. It is not uncommon for there to be errors, which you can have corrected and quickly improve your rating. You can get a report for free by signing up to a subscription with one of the agencies then cancelling before you have to start paying.

Whether you are looking for a payday lender, consolidation loan or a homeowner secured loan, you should always approach at least two or three companies, as rates and charges vary a lot. There are many companies to choose from in both the US and the UK, and it is important to ensure that you find established and reputable organisations to deal with. There are unfortunately lenders out there that will try to steer you into arrangements that make the most profit for them, rather than finding what is right for you or what you can really afford.

Read recommendations for reputable US and UK direct payday lenders.

Borrow Money UK - Borrowing Options In The UK

There are many options available for anyone wishing to borrow money in the UK, as indeed there are in the US too. Different companies and organisations specialise in different types of lending, from short term payday loans, to consolidation loans for debt and larger loans secured against assets. The most common way to borrow money is through a personal loan, where the money may be required for any one of a whole range of reasons, such as a new car, holiday or item of furniture.

A growing number of people these days are borrowing money because of personal debt. When debts mount up and it becomes a struggle to meet all the payments, a common course of action is to seek a debt consolidation loan. The principle behind consolidating your debts is that you use the new loan to pay off all your old creditors, leaving you with just a single new payment to deal with.

Apart from the fact that it is much easier to deal with only one payment, the other main advantage of a debt consolidation loan is that the new payment should be lower than the total of your previous repayments. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that the payments are not just less because the loan is spread over a much longer period, otherwise you can end up paying back much more in the long term.

It is also important that the interest rate on the new loan is actually lower than for the old debts. The best way to ensure this is to list out all your existing debts and the interest rates you are paying, then only consolidate those debts which are at a higher rate than the proposed new loan. Do not be tempted to automatically include every existing debt you have in the consolidation loan.

Payday loans are relatively new to the UK, but well established in the US. These are a specialist form of borrowing that often does not require a credit check. Payday loans are always for small amounts of money and for very short periods of time. They are useful for dealing with small unexpected emergency expenses, but should not be seen as a way to deal with cash shortages due to ongoing debt problems. If they are used to cover ongoing shortages, the same problem will arise each month, which can lead to more and more borrowing. The other thing to be aware of with payday loans is that they should always be paid back on time, as the penalty charges are often extremely high.

An alternative type of loan which is available to people with bad credit ratings is homeowner secured loans. These are only available to people who own their own property and are a way of borrowing money which is secured against your home. What this means is that the debt is legally bound to your house, so if you do not keep up with repayments, the lender can arrange to have your house sold off to get their money back. The fact that there is the security of your house attached to the loan means that the lenders are less worried about poor credit ratings, and are often happy to lend much higher amounts of money.

Whatever type of borrowing you require, one of the most important things to remember is to always approach two or three different lenders and compare what they can offer, to ensure you are getting the best deal. When deciding which lenders to choose, you should take care to deal only with established and reputable companies, who have a track record of successful lending and happy customers.

Find recommendations for US and UK lenders for homeowner secured loans.

I Need To Borrow Some Money To Get Out Of Debt

It is probably fair to say that for most people who experience serious debt problems, the first thing they think about is where to get some more money to pay off their creditors. Taking out one big loan to pay off old debts is known as debt consolidation, and while this can be a useful thing to do in certain circumstances, it is by no means always the most effective solution to solving many debt problems.

It partly depends on the size and nature of the debts you have, but if you have quite a serious amount of unsecured debt, then there are definitely options available which are better than borrowing more money. Unsecured debts are those which are not legally tied into one of your assets, such as a house. Things like credit card debts, personal loans, store cards, bank overdrafts, etc are all examples of unsecured debts.

In both the US and the UK there are many companies which specialise in debt settlement and debt management. These involve negotiating with your creditors on your behalf, to agree new repayment terms for the debt. This usually includes securing an agreement by the creditors to write off a substantial portion of the original amount owed, in some cases over half of your debt. The advantage of this approach over that of a consolidation loan is that it reduced the whole balance due, rather than just decreasing the amount of interest you pay. You therefore have a lot less to pay back, which allows you to be debt free that much sooner.

In the US, Debt settlement negotiation or debt management programs are frequently used as an alternative to bankruptcy. They are ways of dealing with substantial debt without incurring the serious legal consequences that come with bankruptcy. In the UK there are many companies who offer debt management plans, which involve making a single reduced payment to the company, who in turn negotiate and deal with all your creditors.

Another useful alternative to either borrowing more or declaring bankruptcy, which is only available in the UK, is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, or IVA. This is a more formal, binding agreement, which again involves making a much reduced single payment to a company who then deal with your debts on your behalf. At the end of the agreed period, any unpaid debts are usually written off and you are free of debt.

The difference between an IVA and a debt management plan is that with a debt management plan your creditors do not have to agree to it, whereas with an IVA, if you can get 75% of your creditors to sign up, the rest are obliged to join in, whether they like it or not.

IVAs were first introduced as an alternative to bankruptcy, and they are certainly a far more attractive option. When you declare bankruptcy you lose all control of your assets, whereas an IVA gives you some involvement and choice about which debts are included and which are not. IVAs and debt management/settlement programs are all aimed at unsecured debts, so things like your mortgage or any secured loans cannot be included.

Whether you decide to look into a debt consolidation loan or a debt settlement company, it is important to talk to more than one company, and to ensure that the companies you do approach are well established and reputable. The danger is that less reputable companies may offer you solutions based on what will make them the most money, rather than what is best for you. Good companies will have a good track record of successfully helping people and will offer you the best options for your particular circumstances.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable US debt settlement companies.

Where to borrow money when the banks won’t loan

Fortunately banks are by no means the only institutions which lend money to people. If a bank will not let you borrow money, the chances are that you have a credit rating which is less than perfect. While this can be a problem for a lot of lenders, there are plenty of others who specialise in people with bad credit.

A poor credit rating does send a signal to lenders that you are going to be a higher risk than someone without your credit problems, so the terms of bad credit borrowing can often be adjusted to compensate for this. What that means is that if a lender thinks they are less likely to get all their money back by lending to people with a history of credit problems, they are probably going to charge a higher interest rate to make up for their increased losses.

However, there are other types of borrowing where a bad credit rating is far less of an issue anyway. The main one being secured loans, where the money you borrow is secured against something you own, usually your house, but sometimes a car. What this means is that the loan is legally tied into the ownership of your home, so if you were to default on the loan and not pay it back, the lender could have your house sold to get their money. Because they have this ultimate safety net to fall back on, they are much more willing to overlook bad credit ratings and lend much higher amounts of money.

The other type of lending which often does not rely on a credit report is for very short term loans for small amounts of cash. These are referred to as payday or cash advance loans. These are always for relatively small amounts and usually only for a period of weeks, or months at the most. The reason credit reports matter less is that the lender is unlikely to be lending you any more money than you will be getting in your next pay packet. So provided you prove that you have a job and will be getting paid at the end of the month, they do not usually worry about your credit rating.

You need to be careful if you are considering either of these types of borrowing. Secured loans put your home at risk, so for fairly obvious reasons you need to consider these carefully and be sure that you are going to be able to keep up with repayments. Knowing that they have your home to cover the debt, some less scrupulous companies may not be that careful about assessing your ability to repay the loan, and not very understanding if you do get into difficulties. You should therefore be very careful when you are selecting a company to use for such a serious undertaking.

Payday loans are for small amounts of money, but the interest charges are very high if you use the loans for longer periods than are intended. Like secured loans, this form of borrowing is a little open to abuse by less responsible lenders, who will be only to happy to slap outrageous penalty charges on you if you do not pay the loan back on time. Take care to seek recommendations on well established and reputable companies, and always get quotes from more than one.

Read recommendations for the most reputable direct payday lenders in the US and UK.

Why Is Budgeting Important - How Budgeting Can Turn Your Finances Around

A budget is an extremely useful tool which can help you control your financial situation. Many people who get into problems with debt or overspending do so at least partly through not fully understanding where their money is going. By using budgeting techniques you can get a clear picture of exactly what you spend your money on, and take action to adjust that balance if it is not what you want to be doing. In other words, it is not about stopping all expenditure, but rather choosing what you spend your money on and making sure you have money free for the things you really want.

Working to a budget really should not mean permanent thrift and misery; it is about understanding and control, and the end result should be that you have more money to spend. The difference an effective budget can make is enormous, and it really is largely about getting a clear understanding of where all your money goes to, so that you can make sure that matches up with the amount you have coming in.

If you buy a coffee once or twice a day, it costs very little each day, so you don’t even think about it. However, if you add that up and work out how much that is every month and every year, it becomes a substantial amount of money, which you may well decide you would rather do something else with. If you buy lunch every day at work, would you really rather do that than bring something from home and have an extra holiday each year? It really does make that much difference and most people are making these sort of choices on a daily basis without knowing it.

So understanding that a budget can be a useful thing is a bit of a no-brainer, but then comes the part where many people fall down - doing something about it. Understandably, a lot of people do not get started down the budgeting route simply through a lack of understanding of how to go about it. There are various options you can consider, but in essence what you need to find is a system you can follow that gives you an easy way to keep track of where your money is going. If you are reasonably comfortable with figures and spreadsheets, you can do this completely from scratch. You can download free budget sheets online to get you started.

The problem is that unless you are very determined, it does not take much to be put off following the whole process through and putting in the work that is required to prepare your own budget manually. The alternative is to use some sort of budgeting tool, of which there are many on the market. The reason these are so popular is that they take all the hard work out of budgeting and mean that you only need spend a small amount of time keeping track of your finances. Keeping the process as simple as possible is actually quite an important factor in determining whether people put the budget into action and stick to it or not.

Even with a budgeting tool, you will need to spend some time initially inputting all your financial information so that you can come up with your monthly budget. Once that work is done, however, the all important monitoring and updating is so much easier with a budgeting software tool. Some packages will even pull your online bank statements into the system so that all your financial information is integrated in one place. One of the most useful aspects of a good budget tool should be the reporting function. This is where you are able to really analyse your spending, to show you in a clear and simple way where exactly your money goes, where spending is out of control and which areas require your attention.

Read reviews and recommendations on home budgeting software.

Why Is Budgeting Important - How Budgeting Can Turn Your Finances Around

A budget is an extremely useful tool which can help you control your financial situation. Many people who get into problems with debt or overspending do so at least partly through not fully understanding where their money is going. By using budgeting techniques you can get a clear picture of exactly what you spend your money on, and take action to adjust that balance if it is not what you want to be doing. In other words, it is not about stopping all expenditure, but rather choosing what you spend your money on and making sure you have money free for the things you really want.

Working to a budget really should not mean permanent thrift and misery; it is about understanding and control, and the end result should be that you have more money to spend. The difference an effective budget can make is enormous, and it really is largely about getting a clear understanding of where all your money goes to, so that you can make sure that matches up with the amount you have coming in.

If you buy a coffee once or twice a day, it costs very little each day, so you don’t even think about it. However, if you add that up and work out how much that is every month and every year, it becomes a substantial amount of money, which you may well decide you would rather do something else with. If you buy lunch every day at work, would you really rather do that than bring something from home and have an extra holiday each year? It really does make that much difference and most people are making these sort of choices on a daily basis without knowing it.

So understanding that a budget can be a useful thing is a bit of a no-brainer, but then comes the part where many people fall down - doing something about it. Understandably, a lot of people do not get started down the budgeting route simply through a lack of understanding of how to go about it. There are various options you can consider, but in essence what you need to find is a system you can follow that gives you an easy way to keep track of where your money is going. If you are reasonably comfortable with figures and spreadsheets, you can do this completely from scratch. You can download free budget sheets online to get you started.

The problem is that unless you are very determined, it does not take much to be put off following the whole process through and putting in the work that is required to prepare your own budget manually. The alternative is to use some sort of budgeting tool, of which there are many on the market. The reason these are so popular is that they take all the hard work out of budgeting and mean that you only need spend a small amount of time keeping track of your finances. Keeping the process as simple as possible is actually quite an important factor in determining whether people put the budget into action and stick to it or not.

Even with a budgeting tool, you will need to spend some time initially inputting all your financial information so that you can come up with your monthly budget. Once that work is done, however, the all important monitoring and updating is so much easier with a budgeting software tool. Some packages will even pull your online bank statements into the system so that all your financial information is integrated in one place. One of the most useful aspects of a good budget tool should be the reporting function. This is where you are able to really analyse your spending, to show you in a clear and simple way where exactly your money goes, where spending is out of control and which areas require your attention.

Read reviews and recommendations on home budgeting software.

Small Loans With Bad Credit - Advice On How To Get Small Loans When Your Credit Is Bad

Having problems on your credit rating can wipe out access to borrowing money from a huge range of lenders. Most companies that lend larger amounts of money need to be sure that the people they lend it to are likely to pay it back, often over a considerable period of time. This is why your credit rating matters and your overall credit needs to be pretty good. However, if you only require a smaller amount of money, and you can pay it back relatively quickly, there are certainly loans that you can access, no matter how bad your credit is.

The main type of loan where your credit report is often of little interest is a payday loan. These are always for small amounts of money and always for a very short period of time. The loans are usually just until your next payday, hence the name. The reason that bad credit does not stop you getting one of these loans is that the loan is for a very short period of time, so the lender is only really interested in knowing that you will have enough money going into your bank account at the end of the loan period to cover what you have borrowed.

For this reason, the main criteria for being accepted for a payday loan are that you have a job and a bank account. While some companies still want to do a credit check, there are plenty who either will not check your rating, or who will be very flexible about any problems with your rating. Payday loan companies often used to require you to fax through various proofs of employment, etc, but with certain online companies you can now go through an extremely fast, entirely online application process, and have the money in your account the same day as you apply.

Payday loan companies will often require that you have a debit card or that you set up a direct debit with them to pay back the money borrowed. If you do take out one of these short term cash advance loans, it is very important to pay the full amount back exactly on time. The fees charged are reasonable when you look at them as a flat fee for a service, but when you compare them in terms of annual percentage rate with other types of borrowing, the interest rates are extremely high. So if you didn't pay the loan back on time and continued that debt for a longer period, the interest charges would soon mount up. Some people who have failed to repay a payday loan have ended up owing much more in interest than the amount they borrowed in the first place.

It is therefore important to understand what payday loans are and when you should use them. They are not designed to tackle ongoing debt problems, and if they are used in this way, it is almost inevitable that you will end up with bigger problems. They are for dealing with one-off, unforeseen bills or expenses, and tiding you over until your next payday. If you need to borrow money for longer, or require it to pay off other existing debts, then payday loans are not the answer.

The fact that such loans can lead to high interest charges if not used properly, does attract some lenders who are less than scrupulous and who add ridiculous penalty charges onto any late payments, making it very difficult to ever pay the loans off. For this reason you need to take great care when choosing a company to borrow from. Check that they are reputable and make sure you know what the terms and conditions are for any late payment interest. It is also worth getting quotes from more than one to compare rates.

Read recommendations for direct payday loan lenders.

Should I File Bankruptcy Or Not - How Else Do I Get Rid Of Debt

Serious debt problems can be very stressful and are often seen as insurmountable. When the amount owed becomes more than you could ever hope to repay, it is easy to think there is no way to begin to tackle the debt, which is when many people turn to bankruptcy as the only way out. In some cases bankruptcy is indeed the best long term solution, but it is a drastic step to take and should never be the only option considered.

In the UK the government introduced a scheme called Individual Voluntary Arrangements, or IVAs, which were originally designed as an alternative to bankruptcy for small businesses. They are now very widely used for problems of personal debt, as the consequences are less serious than with bankruptcy. They provide a full and final settlement of unsecured debts, without having the lasting legal restrictions or the stigma that filing for bankruptcy brings with it.

In the US, the most common and most effective alternative to bankruptcy is debt settlement negotiation. This has the same effect as an IVA, in that you end up with one affordable monthly payment, and a large portion of your debts are written off.

There are many similarities between the positive aspects of an IVA and those of declaring bankruptcy. With both courses of action your debts immediately stop mounting up and all the dealings with your creditors are taken over by someone else. This puts an end to the constant hounding by creditors that some people suffer. Unlike in bankruptcy, IVAs only cover unsecured debts, so things like mortgages cannot be included. This does mean that you are far less likely to lose your home with an IVA.

There are costs involved in either declaring bankruptcy or setting up an IVA. The companies who do this need to be paid, either in fees as with bankruptcy, or usually through your monthly payments with an IVA. However, the costs involved in setting up an Individual Voluntary Agreement should generally be less than those for filing bankruptcy.

Debt Management Plans are often put forward as alternatives to bankruptcy, and while these also result in a single monthly payment, they do not actually write off any of the debt you owe. They are generally for people whose situation is not quite as serious as someone who might need an IVA or debt settlement. Unlike IVAs, debt management plans are not legally binding agreements, so if any of your creditors do not want to play ball, they don’t work. With an IVA, you just need the creditors for 75% of your debt to agree to the arrangement and the rest are legally bound by it too.

To qualify for an IVA you normally need to have at least £10,000 worth of debt to more than one unsecured creditor. You will also need to be a UK resident with some regular income to pay towards your debts. Because IVA providers get fees from setting up these arrangements, some less scrupulous companies may recommend them even if they are not the best option. For this reason you need to ensure that you find reputable companies and check with more than one in order to compare offers.

Read recommendations for the most reputable IVA UK Companies.

Can You Be Sued For Credit Card Debts - What To Do If You Are Being Sued For Debt

Being sued for debt is a frightening thought, but is an increasingly likely scenario for many consumers struggling through the credit crunch. One of the most common forms of consumer debt is money owed to credit card companies. The reason for this is not least because it is often very easy to get credit in the first place and much harder to keep track of plastic spending compared to hard cash coming out of your bank account. When times get tough, it is often credit cards we turn to in order to pay the bills or buy the things we need.

If you do find yourself in a serious debt crisis where you are unable to meet your commitments to pay back what you have spent, you may well be threatened with legal action by the credit card companies. They are well within their rights to sue you for their money, but they are only likely to do this if they think that is the course of action which is most likely to get back what you owe them.

Ideally, you should not be letting things go as far as being taken to court, but if you are already at that stage, it may not be as bad as you think. You cannot be sent to prison for an unpaid credit card bill if you have not been to court before. If the court judgement goes against you, the judge will order you to pay back the money you owe at a rate which the court thinks you are able to pay. They will examine your finances in order to make this judgement about what you can afford each month.

The best option is of course not to let your debts mount up in the first place, but this is easier said than done. If you already have substantial credit card bills that you are unable to pay, your best option is to try to negotiate a settlement with the card companies. This too is easier said than done, particularly if you do not understand how card companies operate.

Many people in this situation turn to debt settlement agencies, but you will need to pay them for this service, so ultimately it ends up costing you a lot more than if you do it yourself. If you understand how credit card settlement works, and can time your negotiations properly, you should be able to come to an agreement that will result in a large proportion of your debt being written off.

It is important to know what to say to the card companies and you need to understand the procedures they go through in order to time your negotiations to achieve the best results. Getting this right can make the difference between not reaching any agreement to settle, and achieving a settlement that writes off a huge chunk of what you owe, getting you out of debt in one stroke.

With the right guidance and information, you can negotiate directly will all the credit card companies you owe money to, and achieve the best possible settlement deals without paying substantial fees to a debt settlement company for their services.

Find out how you can learn how to settle debt.

Can A Credit Card Company Sue You - Being Sued For Debt How To Avoid It

Credit card companies and collection agencies are quite within their rights to take legal action against you if you have failed to pay a debt that you legitimately owe. Taking out credit is a legal agreement, so if you fail to keep up with your end of the bargain by not paying the money back when it is due, you can be sued.

This does not mean that it is a foregone conclusion that you will be sued, as it can depend on many other factors. Taking someone to court will obviously cost the card company money, so they will want to weigh up the cost in legal fees and staff time, compared to what they are realistically likely to get back at the end of the process.

The fact that you are sued does not magically bring money out of the air for the card company, so if you genuinely cannot afford to pay back what you owe, being sued will not change that. If they successfully sue you, you will be ordered to pay back the money at a rate which the court decides you can afford, after looking at your finances.

You do not want a court judgement against you if you can help it, of course, so it is much better to deal with the problem before it gets to the stage of going to court. By far the best way to deal with credit card debt is to agree a settlement with the company. This may sound easier said than done, because it is, but it is perfectly possible to agree settlements for much less that you owe, if you understand how the card companies work.

My usual advice to anyone in debt would be to never ignore the issue and to talk to your creditors and try to establish a relationship. However, credit card debt is quite a distinct area of debt and requires some specialist advice. For instance, at certain times, it may actually help to ignore approaches from the card company, because timing, in settlement terms, is everything. Judging when to negotiate and when not to, can make the difference between not achieving a settlement and wiping out most of your debt.

The main choice you have to make if you are in serious debt to credit card companies is whether to try to reach settlements with your creditors by undertaking negotiations with them yourself, or whether to use a professional company to do this on your behalf. If you wish to do it yourself, it is difficult if you do not have any experience or understanding of how card companies operate, but is still perfectly possible if you get the right help and advice.

A debt settlement company will know what to do and the good ones are likely to get reductions on your debts of up to 60%, but you will need to pay them a proportion of what they save you as their fees. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you maximise the reductions you achieve by not having to pay a settlement company.

Read a detailed guide on how to negotiate debt.

IVA UK - Information and Advice On How To Find The Right IVA Company

An IVA is a debt solution which is only available in the UK. It stands for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement and is a formal agreement between you and your creditors, which is negotiated by an Insolvency Practitioner. The basis of the agreement is that you make payments of an agreed amount over a specified period of time (usually five years) after which your debts are considered to be fully settled. This usually involves writing off a significant portion of the debt.

From the date of the IVA, the amount of your debt is usually frozen and you should not be charged any further interest or penalty charges. It is often seen as a better option than bankruptcy for people who are faced with the need to get rid of debts which they can’t afford to repay. Even though an IVA lasts longer then bankruptcy, it does not have the stigma or some of the legal consequences that bankruptcy brings with it.

For example, you can carry on using your bank account without declaring that you have an IVA, and there are no jobs that you will be prohibited from working in, as there are for anyone who has been made bankrupt. Also, your house may be excluded from the IVA if the Insolvency Practitioner agrees, so the risk of losing your home is less with an IVA.

An important point about an IVA is that, unlike a Debt Management Plan, which is a completely informal arrangement, the IVA is legally binding. If at least 75% of your creditors agree to the IVA, then the remaining ones are bound to it whether they like it or not. The 75% agreement relates to the proportion of the debt in monetary terms, not the number or creditors. So if 75% of your total debt was owed to two companies, you would only need the agreement of those two companies for the IVA to also bind the other people who are owed money. So if you have already looked at a Debt Management Plan or other informal agreement, and some of your creditors will not agree to it, an IVA could be a better alternative.

IVAs do of course cost money, because the companies who negotiate and administer the schemes need to be paid for their work. Generally you do not need to find this money up front and it will be included as a proportion of the monthly repayment amount that you agree. The cost is still less than the cost for declaring bankruptcy, and provided a good proportion of your debt is written off, it can seem like money well spent.

Care should be taken when selecting an IVA company, however, as rates can vary enormously. You must also bear in mind that when discussing the options for dealing with your debts, these companies stand to gain financially from the decision you make. You should therefore take care to select a reputable company in the first place, who will properly consider your particular situation, offer you advice then allow you to choose the best option, rather than pressurise you to go for the scheme that will generate the biggest income for them.

Read more about IVAs, including recommendations for the top IVA UK Companies.