Saturday 9 January 2010

Personal Grants To Pay Off Debts

One of the most stressful aspects of being in serious debt is that you cannot see how to ever get rid of it. When the amount you owe each month becomes so much larger than your income is ever likely to be, the only way out can appear to be getting some money from elsewhere. Some people in this situation turn to consolidation loans, borrowing more money to pay off what they owe, but this is rarely the best answer to large amounts of debt.

The ideal answer would be to get a grant that you do not need to pay back. This is the perfect solution as it resolves the problem and wipes the slate clean. The idea of grants to pay off debts is one that you will come across a lot on the internet, so it is not surprising that many people think that there is easy money there for the taking. The bad news is that while there are a great many grant schemes on offer in the US, none of them are just to pay off debt. Neither are there any such grants in the UK. Imagine if there were; everyone would want them, and there would be little incentive to avoid going into debt. However, there are some legitimate alternatives available which have the same result as if you were given a lump of money.

The idea that there are personal grants to pay off debts is one perpetuated by people who, one way or another, are trying to get money out of you. Sometimes it is in exchange for a database of grants and how to apply for them. Many of these grants are in fact for starting up new businesses, often ones which fulfil a particular need in a certain area. The justification for many adverts that say there are personal grants to pay off debt is that you could get one of these grants, start a new business, make some money and then use that to pay off your debts. I personally would not trust anyone who needs use such a convoluted argument to get your attention.

I mentioned that there were alternatives available which can have the same effect as a grant would on your debt. The main one is debt settlement negotiation, which involves getting agreement from your creditors to write off a large chunk of your debts, often over half of the total. The net result is that over half your debt disappears, as if it were paid off, making it far more possible to pay back the remainder. Debt settlement is not commonly used in the UK, because there is an equivalent scheme called an IVA, or individual voluntary arrangement. This too usually involves writing off a significant part of your debt.

When you sign up for debt settlement you just have one monthly payment to find, and the debt settlement company deal with your creditors for you. While you make payments into a fund, they will negotiate settlement deals with each of your creditors in turn, which result in paying them substantially reduced amounts in exchange for a quick settlement.

One word of warning if you are interested in finding out about debt settlement; you need to take steps to avoid some debt settlement companies who are likely to ask for money up front but not achieve good settlements for you. There are plenty of excellent companies that will do a good job, but there are plenty of bad ones too, so you need to exercise some caution. With the best companies you will only pay them a proportion of what they save you, so you can not lose out.

The main thing is to be aware that not all the companies out there are trustworthy, and you can avoid them by following recommendations for reliable and well established companies. You need to find organisations who have been around for a while and can demonstrate that they have successfully helped many people out of debt. It is also useful to apply to two or three debt settlement companies and see how the offers compare before signing up.

Read reviews and recommendations for reputable online debt settlement companies in the US.

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