Debt Management
Life before and after - what's that like?
We speak to many clients who are considering debt management, are on debt management and have re-mortgaged away from debt management and thought it would be good for visitors to view what we have been told about debt management and how clients viewed their situation before, during and after the debt management plan has been cleared.
Life before debt management
From the feedback we have received, life before debt management for the majority of people we speak to was a matter of avoiding telephone calls from creditors and avoiding opening mail - those that did try to deal with the creditor phone calls and letters generally found themselves overwhelmed by having to try and fix everything for themselves and manage everyday life.
In many cases, where phone calls are being ignored and letters unopened people found a little respite as though there was nothing wrong with their creditor agreements - out of site out of mind so to speak. The reality hits home for many though when the creditor is left with little choice but to send a representative out to contact them directly.
On the other hand, there were people who were able to manage the debts themselves although the time taken to constantly reply to lender letters and deal with telephone calls - especially when they telephoned them at work soon became more than they could handle and they were more than happy to find a debt management solution which would mean someone else would deal with everything for them.
Life on debt management
Dealing with life on debt management for the most part could be seen as a welcome relief from having to sort everything out themselves. Having the ability to pick up the phone and talk to someone who is on your side rather than simply request that payments be increased was indeed a welcome change for the majority of people we have spoke to.
They were also very appreciative of the fact that all their debts were being handled professionally and all costs incurred were being taking out of their disposable income which meant any post to be sent to the debt management company could be put into one of their free post envelopes and the client didn't really have to worry about anything as they knew the debt management company would deal with everything on their behalf.
We found that they were also very happy with having just one single monthly payment which would be distributed to their creditors each month 
which meant that instead of them having to remember to pay a number of creditors different amounts each month all they had to do is make sure the debt management company was paid and they knew the debt management company would take care of everything else.
Whilst they were encouraged by the debt management company not to take on any further debts and were aware their credit status had been effected we found the people we spoke to did not see this as a downside as the last thing they wanted to do was take on more unsecured debt.
A few of the people we spoke to were also very pleased that the debt management plan could be altered as their finances changed - for example, if a clients monthly mortgage payments increased the debt management plan could be adjusted accordingly to ensure the new mortgage payment can be met whilst ensuring the client could still afford to maintain a reasonable standard of living.
Life after debt management
Life after debt management, for those in the position to repay all their debts has been viewed by everyone we spoke to as positive. The majority of people who were able to repay their debt management did so by way of a remortgage via a bad credit remortgage and they were surprised to find out that their debt management company would be able to speak to their creditors and try and get reduced settlement figures.
Meaning that whilst they may have owed a large amount of money and the funds they could raise may not have covered everything without some very good settlement figures, after their debt management company had applied for full and final settlements and possibly applied for a short settlement figures they were usually able to repay most if not everything which meant that their debt management company had not only helped when they could not afford the normal monthly payments but also when it was time to leave the debt management company all together.
