Financial Resource

People in Birmingham can access professional help with debt problems just as easily as anyone else in the UK.  Whether you live in Birmingham, another part of the midlands or indeed anywhere else in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can now get advice and help from the best debt help companies without even leaving your home.

The development of websites and online services has made it very easy to get debt advice from a wide variety of sources, which could be based anywhere in the country.  The majority of leading debt advice companies now provide fully nationwide services and there is no advantage or disadvantage to being located near the company base.

If you live in Birmingham and have a serious debt problem, you can apply to a few of the top debt advice organisations online within a few minutes.  Debt advisors will then make contact to go through your situation in more detail and offer advice on the most appropriate course of action.

It is useful to have a basic understanding of what your options are likely to be before you approach a debt advice company for help.  Many people faced with mounting debts consider a debt consolidation loan, but this is often simply because that is the only option they have heard of.  Consolidation loans can be of use in certain very particular circumstances, but quite often they just make things worse.  Taking on new borrowing is a risky thing to do when you are in debt, and it is rarely the best solution.

The other type of debt consolidation is achieved by using a debt management plan.  These are what most debt advice companies will specialise in and be able to offer you.  They do not involve borrowing any money and the whole point of them is to immediately start to reduce the amount you owe and the costs of your debts.

With a debt management plan an expert negotiator from the debt advice company will approach all your creditors and work out new deals for the repayment of your debts.  This means getting agreement to reduce the interest you pay and possibly reduce or eliminate any additional charges such as late payment penalties.

At the end of these negotiations you will just have to make one monthly payment to the debt company, who will then be responsible for dealing with all your creditors and passing on the agreed payment amounts to them.  The cost of your debts is reduced and made much easier to manage, and you no longer have the hassle of creditors chasing you for money.

To be eligible for a debt management plan you will need to have quite a lot of unsecured debt to a few different creditors.  Unsecured debts include credit and store cards, personal loans, catalogue debts, etc.  You will also need to have a source of income and enough money spare each month to make a reasonable payment towards your debts.

If you have more than £15,000 worth of unsecured debts and your situation is very serious, you may be eligible for an IVA, or individual voluntary arrangement.  These were created as an alternative to bankruptcy and are usually only appropriate if you are in real hardship and genuinely unable to keep up with your debt repayments.

What an IVA does is allow you to make an agreed monthly payment towards your debts for a set period of time, usually up to five years, and after this time any debt that remains gets written off.  An IVA can therefore provide a way to eliminate debt that you could never afford to repay. The equivalent of an IVA in Scotland is a Protected Trust Deed.

Most debt advice companies that cover Birmingham and the rest of the UK will provide both debt management plans and IVAs, so if you apply for help they will be able to advise you about which, if any, is most appropriate for you.  You can apply to a few different companies to begin with and compare the debt advice and proposals that you receive before deciding which to go with.  Take care to approach only reputable and trusted companies.

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