Archive for Debt Consolidation
Dec
22
Lifting the Veil on Debt Consolidation UK
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Ed Pearson, Debt Dr asked:
You’re sitting there one day, off from work due to the stress of your unsecured debts weighing heavily upon your shoulders. Suddenly, in the background noise from the TV you hear a fantastic deal – consolidate your existing debts into ‘one easy affordable loan’. You think wow, just what I need to get my debts under control and you get the sales blurb.
Sounds great doesn’t it?
Debt consolidation in the UK is not a new phenomena these days. It’s been around a while. Lots of people have taken out debt busting consolidation loans. So why is the amount of debt in the UK still rising so fast? And why are bankruptcies, IVA’s and debt counselling services stretched to their limits and running at all time high figures right now? Well people get sold on the advantages but I’d recommend thinking about the disadvantages too!
Advantages of debt consolidation UK
Well the interest rate normally comes down on the unsecured debt amount borrowed making the monthly payments easier to afford.
Your debts come under control quickly so the annoying telephone calls and letters from irate creditors stops.
Disadvantages of debt consolidation UK (this is the bit they don’t want you to think too hard about)
To get a debt consolidation loan usually requires some form of property. By consolidating the unsecured debts to your home some of the equity has now been lost. So what was once an unsecured debt now forms part of a charge over your property. Every legal advert in the UK selling this type of service will point out in the small print that your home is at risk if you fail to keep up payments on (this now larger) secured loan. So you’ve put more risk onto your property. I regularly meet people who have bought their house maybe 20 years ago for figures like £80,000 on a house worth £110,000 to find that a decade on they have a house worth (say) £180,000 with a new debt consolidated mortgage of £150,000. So they still only have a similar amount of equity in the property but also have a mortgage now nearly double in size!
Another disadvantage is that the term of the borrowing is usually increased. Well sometimes the debt consolidation companies in the UK will sell that as a benefit with a line like ‘you can take longer to pay your debt and allow yourself time to get on top of your borrowing over the coming years’. I find that an odd statement. You have doubled your mortgage in a decade and you have found yourself in debt but suddenly your spending habits will change and you’ll be debt free at some point in the future. What are your thoughts as you read that? Another interesting point arises here. Because the term is often longer, you will possibly end up paying much more of your hard earned money for that unsecured borrowing by the time you pay off your new secured lending.
Did the debt consolidation company ask what your lifetime ambitions are? You see, you may have got out of the immediate debt issues but you may just also have signed away the possibility of that early retirement / new car / that holiday to see your family down under too. You see, if the amount you are paying back is higher than you had budgeted for then you may need to work longer to achieve your dreams. Was this discussed with you?
Did you consider at least 6 solutions for getting our of debt trouble before you decided on your debt consolidation loan? Can the company you speak to even name 6 solutions for getting out of debt trouble? If not then you have ignored several other options that may have been more suitable for the financial position you found yourself in. It’s rare indeed to find loan and mortgage brokers that are fully trained in solutions to tackle insolvency and debt issues. They have their offering and will talk about the monthly repayment figures to demonstrate how you could be better off, but is it the best way forward? Well naturally, that depends on your situation.
A final word on debt consolidation in the UK
Now, I do believe that debt consolidation has its place but I also think that there could be more done to understand that there are other options for getting out of debt. Getting the right debt help and advice is essential. Look at the advantages and the disadvantages for each solution you consider for debt resolution and then make a more informed decision.
There are more options for getting out of debt trouble then most people realise, that includes debt consolidation but is not limited to just that course of action.
If you would like to know what the 6 solutions to debt in the UK are then you can get debt help and advice from Ed Pearson at Debt Dr.
This article does not constitute regulated advice. Please remember that any action regarding financial advice should always be taken only after considering the specifics of your own situation.
To find out more about Ed try, http://www.advice4debt.co.uk/debtquiz.htm
Ed Pearson is a Debt Dr offering debt help and advice to individuals and small businesses across the UK.
Whilst you may love the stuff he writes, you should only ever take action once you have considered your own set of financial circumstances with a professional. This article does not constitute financial advice.
You’re sitting there one day, off from work due to the stress of your unsecured debts weighing heavily upon your shoulders. Suddenly, in the background noise from the TV you hear a fantastic deal – consolidate your existing debts into ‘one easy affordable loan’. You think wow, just what I need to get my debts under control and you get the sales blurb.
Sounds great doesn’t it?
Debt consolidation in the UK is not a new phenomena these days. It’s been around a while. Lots of people have taken out debt busting consolidation loans. So why is the amount of debt in the UK still rising so fast? And why are bankruptcies, IVA’s and debt counselling services stretched to their limits and running at all time high figures right now? Well people get sold on the advantages but I’d recommend thinking about the disadvantages too!
Advantages of debt consolidation UK
Well the interest rate normally comes down on the unsecured debt amount borrowed making the monthly payments easier to afford.
Your debts come under control quickly so the annoying telephone calls and letters from irate creditors stops.
Disadvantages of debt consolidation UK (this is the bit they don’t want you to think too hard about)
To get a debt consolidation loan usually requires some form of property. By consolidating the unsecured debts to your home some of the equity has now been lost. So what was once an unsecured debt now forms part of a charge over your property. Every legal advert in the UK selling this type of service will point out in the small print that your home is at risk if you fail to keep up payments on (this now larger) secured loan. So you’ve put more risk onto your property. I regularly meet people who have bought their house maybe 20 years ago for figures like £80,000 on a house worth £110,000 to find that a decade on they have a house worth (say) £180,000 with a new debt consolidated mortgage of £150,000. So they still only have a similar amount of equity in the property but also have a mortgage now nearly double in size!
Another disadvantage is that the term of the borrowing is usually increased. Well sometimes the debt consolidation companies in the UK will sell that as a benefit with a line like ‘you can take longer to pay your debt and allow yourself time to get on top of your borrowing over the coming years’. I find that an odd statement. You have doubled your mortgage in a decade and you have found yourself in debt but suddenly your spending habits will change and you’ll be debt free at some point in the future. What are your thoughts as you read that? Another interesting point arises here. Because the term is often longer, you will possibly end up paying much more of your hard earned money for that unsecured borrowing by the time you pay off your new secured lending.
Did the debt consolidation company ask what your lifetime ambitions are? You see, you may have got out of the immediate debt issues but you may just also have signed away the possibility of that early retirement / new car / that holiday to see your family down under too. You see, if the amount you are paying back is higher than you had budgeted for then you may need to work longer to achieve your dreams. Was this discussed with you?
Did you consider at least 6 solutions for getting our of debt trouble before you decided on your debt consolidation loan? Can the company you speak to even name 6 solutions for getting out of debt trouble? If not then you have ignored several other options that may have been more suitable for the financial position you found yourself in. It’s rare indeed to find loan and mortgage brokers that are fully trained in solutions to tackle insolvency and debt issues. They have their offering and will talk about the monthly repayment figures to demonstrate how you could be better off, but is it the best way forward? Well naturally, that depends on your situation.
A final word on debt consolidation in the UK
Now, I do believe that debt consolidation has its place but I also think that there could be more done to understand that there are other options for getting out of debt. Getting the right debt help and advice is essential. Look at the advantages and the disadvantages for each solution you consider for debt resolution and then make a more informed decision.
There are more options for getting out of debt trouble then most people realise, that includes debt consolidation but is not limited to just that course of action.
If you would like to know what the 6 solutions to debt in the UK are then you can get debt help and advice from Ed Pearson at Debt Dr.
This article does not constitute regulated advice. Please remember that any action regarding financial advice should always be taken only after considering the specifics of your own situation.
To find out more about Ed try, http://www.advice4debt.co.uk/debtquiz.htm
Ed Pearson is a Debt Dr offering debt help and advice to individuals and small businesses across the UK.
Whilst you may love the stuff he writes, you should only ever take action once you have considered your own set of financial circumstances with a professional. This article does not constitute financial advice.
Dec
15
Get Student Debt Consolidation Loans
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Debt asked:
Student Loan consolidation can be the best friend of any student who has just completed their course and graduated from their college or university. Most students who just come out of their college and universities find it very hard to maintain their monthly expenses as they have a bigger burden to repay their student loans taken out during their academic years and for those students who had relied on these loans heavily, consolidation can be an even better option.
Private loans normally have huge interest rates compared to that of federal loans and given the fact that a private loan repayment is hanging over your head when you are about to complete your graduation can be much more worrisome. Though a student can consolidate their private loan through a federal loan but that is somewhat impossible to get for the majority of students. However reducing the amount of monthly loan repayments can be a huge relief if the student acts accordingly to get the loan amount reduced or repayments period gets increased significantly by the lender company.
Apply for Student Debt Consolidation Loan
A cosigner is required with a private loan, though a student might not require a cosigner to consolidate their private student debt consolidation but having a cosigner can reduce the interest rate significantly to a lower rate and might even end up having a zero interest rate if the credit rating of the cosigner is above average. A lot of companies provide services of cosigner release benefits which mean that if a student is able to make the payments on time as estimated in the contract then the cosigner will be completely released from the debt.
With increase in consolidation methods, many companies are providing automatic private loan consolidation offers with their private student loans. For an example some companies are providing borrowers with interest only payments which mean that the amount of money paid as interest can get lowered and the actual loan can be consolidated. This allows the borrowers to save huge amounts of money over a longer period of time. Moreover many companies simply increase the repayment period by ten years or so which significantly lowers the amount of money to be repaid each month. However in most cases a borrower of a student loan is not penalized in case he or she is not able to repay the loan in time if it has been processed through a student debt consolidation plan.
Private student debt consolidation loans can be really worrisome for students who are about to graduate from their college and university. Moreover with the transitional phase of changing their career it can be more troublesome to any new graduates as they don’t get enough guidance on how to choose a new career. With tuition fees rising each year and more and more debt incurred during their college, private loans can be a huge burden on any new graduate student. A student loan consolidation plan can provide great relief for such student as it reduces the time of their repayment and allows the student to think more on their career goal.
Student Loan consolidation can be the best friend of any student who has just completed their course and graduated from their college or university. Most students who just come out of their college and universities find it very hard to maintain their monthly expenses as they have a bigger burden to repay their student loans taken out during their academic years and for those students who had relied on these loans heavily, consolidation can be an even better option.
Private loans normally have huge interest rates compared to that of federal loans and given the fact that a private loan repayment is hanging over your head when you are about to complete your graduation can be much more worrisome. Though a student can consolidate their private loan through a federal loan but that is somewhat impossible to get for the majority of students. However reducing the amount of monthly loan repayments can be a huge relief if the student acts accordingly to get the loan amount reduced or repayments period gets increased significantly by the lender company.
Apply for Student Debt Consolidation Loan
A cosigner is required with a private loan, though a student might not require a cosigner to consolidate their private student debt consolidation but having a cosigner can reduce the interest rate significantly to a lower rate and might even end up having a zero interest rate if the credit rating of the cosigner is above average. A lot of companies provide services of cosigner release benefits which mean that if a student is able to make the payments on time as estimated in the contract then the cosigner will be completely released from the debt.
With increase in consolidation methods, many companies are providing automatic private loan consolidation offers with their private student loans. For an example some companies are providing borrowers with interest only payments which mean that the amount of money paid as interest can get lowered and the actual loan can be consolidated. This allows the borrowers to save huge amounts of money over a longer period of time. Moreover many companies simply increase the repayment period by ten years or so which significantly lowers the amount of money to be repaid each month. However in most cases a borrower of a student loan is not penalized in case he or she is not able to repay the loan in time if it has been processed through a student debt consolidation plan.
Private student debt consolidation loans can be really worrisome for students who are about to graduate from their college and university. Moreover with the transitional phase of changing their career it can be more troublesome to any new graduates as they don’t get enough guidance on how to choose a new career. With tuition fees rising each year and more and more debt incurred during their college, private loans can be a huge burden on any new graduate student. A student loan consolidation plan can provide great relief for such student as it reduces the time of their repayment and allows the student to think more on their career goal.
Nov
17
Everything you Wanted to Know About Bad Credit Repair
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Mark Henry asked:
It may not be possible to provide you with everything you wanted to know about credit repair in this brief article, but here we attempt to give you the do-it-yourself basics and the facts about the many credit repair schemes that are being advertised and should be avoided.
Some companies advertise that they have a credit report repair Software and also they will teach you credit repair secrets, for a fee of course. There is a lot of free information here, if you know where to look. Before you take a credit repair course or sign up for credit report repair, read the facts and the laws relating to credit repair. In this way you may avoid some disappointment and save some money.
Credit repair is a popular subject. It seems that almost everyone wants learn about credit repair. Books and software programs that claim to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair are being sold on the internet and in retail locations all over the country. There are some questionable credit repair schemes and some companies suggest action which is illegal. Consumers can learn to repair their own credit, but it takes time and patience. The safest bet when hiring someone to do the work for you is to hire a credit repair attorney. In this way, you can be sure that you will achieve results; they know everything there is to know about credit repair. You can also be sure that a credit repair attorney will not advise you to do anything that is illegal. Most of the popular credit repair lawyers do not charge more than the other credit repair companies and some offer money back guarantees.
One of the credit repair schemes investigated by the Federal Trade Commission involved a company that told their customers that they had a special valuable computer disc. This computer disc was supposed to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair, when in fact there was nothing unique about the disc or the services offered by the credit repair company. They charged consumers, before results were achieved. In order to protect consumers from these credit repair schemes, companies are not allowed to charge customers upfront fees. In addition, consumers have three days to cancel any contract that they sign. Of course you may not enjoy the same protection when buying a book or software program that claims to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair. So make your purchases carefully and look for money back guarantees.
The do-it-yourself basics for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair include reviewing and correcting the information on your credit reports. In response to a recently enacted law, the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, created a website to allow consumers easier access to their credit reports. Until this law was enacted, the credit bureaus were allowed to charge consumers a fee for a copy of their credit reports. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once in a twelve month period. You are also entitled to a free copy if you have been denied credit recently, if you are unemployed and plan to apply for a new job within the next three months or if you are on public assistance. The companies pushing credit repair schemes will not tell you where to find the information that you need to repair your credit reports, before you pay them. One way to identify a legitimate credit repair company is to look at what they claim they can do. If they claim to be able to do things for you that you could not do for yourself, with time, patience and know-how, then they are credit repair schemes.
The first place to go for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair is www.annualcreditreport.com. The credit bureaus are allowed to promote other services and products on this site. These are not credit repair schemes, but they are usually credit monitoring services or newsletter subscriptions which may or may not be helpful to you in your current situation. Be sure to spell the website address correctly, this writer has written a number of articles about credit repair and has been advised that she occasionally misspells it. You can link directly to the site from Credit Fix Solutions or the Federal Trade Commission’s official website for consumer credit.
The Federal Trade Commission website is also a good place to visit for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair. Their advice is discouraging to anyone that hopes to attain immediate credit repair, because there is no such thing. But they do provide a sample letter that you can use as a guide if you are planning to dispute information in your credit reports. You can dispute any information on your credit report that you believe is inaccurate, misleading, outdated or unverifiable. Unverifiable means that the credit bureau cannot verify the information.
Disputing information on credit reports is the main topic of most books that claim to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair. Credit repair schemes may also focus on disputing negative items on credit reports. In fact the company that claimed to own the special computer disc, simply advised consumers to dispute every negative item on their credit report. It is not illegal to dispute any information on your credit report, but it is illegal for a company to make false claims about their services.
This is probably not everything that you wanted to know about credit repair, but it may be enough to get you started. Before you buy a book or software program, visit your local library. Experts have been writing books that are supposed to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair for a long time. The only information that may not be accurate, depending on the date the book was written, is information concerning fees charged by credit bureaus for copies of credit reports. But, this article provided you with that information. Remember to avoid the credit repair schemes, take your time and have patience. Good Luck.
It may not be possible to provide you with everything you wanted to know about credit repair in this brief article, but here we attempt to give you the do-it-yourself basics and the facts about the many credit repair schemes that are being advertised and should be avoided.
Some companies advertise that they have a credit report repair Software and also they will teach you credit repair secrets, for a fee of course. There is a lot of free information here, if you know where to look. Before you take a credit repair course or sign up for credit report repair, read the facts and the laws relating to credit repair. In this way you may avoid some disappointment and save some money.
Credit repair is a popular subject. It seems that almost everyone wants learn about credit repair. Books and software programs that claim to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair are being sold on the internet and in retail locations all over the country. There are some questionable credit repair schemes and some companies suggest action which is illegal. Consumers can learn to repair their own credit, but it takes time and patience. The safest bet when hiring someone to do the work for you is to hire a credit repair attorney. In this way, you can be sure that you will achieve results; they know everything there is to know about credit repair. You can also be sure that a credit repair attorney will not advise you to do anything that is illegal. Most of the popular credit repair lawyers do not charge more than the other credit repair companies and some offer money back guarantees.
One of the credit repair schemes investigated by the Federal Trade Commission involved a company that told their customers that they had a special valuable computer disc. This computer disc was supposed to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair, when in fact there was nothing unique about the disc or the services offered by the credit repair company. They charged consumers, before results were achieved. In order to protect consumers from these credit repair schemes, companies are not allowed to charge customers upfront fees. In addition, consumers have three days to cancel any contract that they sign. Of course you may not enjoy the same protection when buying a book or software program that claims to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair. So make your purchases carefully and look for money back guarantees.
The do-it-yourself basics for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair include reviewing and correcting the information on your credit reports. In response to a recently enacted law, the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, created a website to allow consumers easier access to their credit reports. Until this law was enacted, the credit bureaus were allowed to charge consumers a fee for a copy of their credit reports. You are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once in a twelve month period. You are also entitled to a free copy if you have been denied credit recently, if you are unemployed and plan to apply for a new job within the next three months or if you are on public assistance. The companies pushing credit repair schemes will not tell you where to find the information that you need to repair your credit reports, before you pay them. One way to identify a legitimate credit repair company is to look at what they claim they can do. If they claim to be able to do things for you that you could not do for yourself, with time, patience and know-how, then they are credit repair schemes.
The first place to go for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair is www.annualcreditreport.com. The credit bureaus are allowed to promote other services and products on this site. These are not credit repair schemes, but they are usually credit monitoring services or newsletter subscriptions which may or may not be helpful to you in your current situation. Be sure to spell the website address correctly, this writer has written a number of articles about credit repair and has been advised that she occasionally misspells it. You can link directly to the site from Credit Fix Solutions or the Federal Trade Commission’s official website for consumer credit.
The Federal Trade Commission website is also a good place to visit for everything that you wanted to know about credit repair. Their advice is discouraging to anyone that hopes to attain immediate credit repair, because there is no such thing. But they do provide a sample letter that you can use as a guide if you are planning to dispute information in your credit reports. You can dispute any information on your credit report that you believe is inaccurate, misleading, outdated or unverifiable. Unverifiable means that the credit bureau cannot verify the information.
Disputing information on credit reports is the main topic of most books that claim to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair. Credit repair schemes may also focus on disputing negative items on credit reports. In fact the company that claimed to own the special computer disc, simply advised consumers to dispute every negative item on their credit report. It is not illegal to dispute any information on your credit report, but it is illegal for a company to make false claims about their services.
This is probably not everything that you wanted to know about credit repair, but it may be enough to get you started. Before you buy a book or software program, visit your local library. Experts have been writing books that are supposed to contain everything you wanted to know about credit repair for a long time. The only information that may not be accurate, depending on the date the book was written, is information concerning fees charged by credit bureaus for copies of credit reports. But, this article provided you with that information. Remember to avoid the credit repair schemes, take your time and have patience. Good Luck.