By Ben Davies

It is tough today, certainly as tough as it has been in living memory. For many there is the ever increasing problem of debt and it drags them down with higher and higher repayment schedules.

Due to this a large debt relief industry has been created ostensibly to help people. At one end it does exactly that, however there are many companies out there that provides a less reputable service and they should be avoided at all costs.

This article will highlight how the debt relief industry can help and what to look out for.

The industry is generally split two ways. the first is for debt consolidation programs and that involves taking out a loan large enough to cover all of the existing debts. The interest payments and really reduced and the individual taking out the loan gets one manageable payment every month.

The advantage is that a person goes from lots of monthly payments which are too high to one much lower monthly payment, which is much easier to afford. Although, the overall amount that must be paid back actually increases as a result of this as there are fees to be paid on top of the loan amount and they can be quite large.

A big stumbling block preventing people from getting these types of loans is that you will have to put up collateral as security to be accepted into a program. Most in this position cannot do that.

Then there is the debt negotiation route. This differs from consolidation in that a company negotiates on you behalf to secure large discounts on your debts. They use their skills and experience of the industry, to make the companies that are owed money understand that this is the best route for them and you.

This can make massive difference to someone's situation, sometimes there are reductions of 80% or more. of course this depends on individual circumstances, but it does means that people can get out of debt very quickly. A disadvantage is that is can have a bad effect on credit ratings.

If you decide to go this route only sign up with a company that charges based on their performance. That means that you only pay a percentage of the money they can save you.

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