Debt assistance companies
I deal with these grade a bastards every day of the week, they take someone who has thousands upon thousands of pounds in debt, work out for them they they have roughly £50 of income that is disposable per month regardless of the facts, take a £35.00 cut of this and then distribute £1 per month to each creditor.

They fuck up the poor bastards credit record for years to come, usually profit in the long run by at least 120% of their total liabilities and don't help a damn person along the way but themselves.

I'd prefer to see someone go bankrupt than be fucked over for years by these cunts.
( Muns, Thu 1 May 2008, 23:31, 9 replies)

If you go bankrupt, your creditors do not get their money
You should endeavour to pay it back. Bankrupcy is too easy to obtain, and whilst we should be sympathetic to those who have got themselves in trouble, we should not forget their obligation to pay the money they owe, even if it takes years. You reap what you sow. Just because you are a poor individual and your creditors are often companies does not make it right to not pay.

But you are right, "consolidated loan" sellers are cunts. I just wanted another rant.
(Super Jet Shoes, Fri 2 May 2008, 1:21, closed)

Agreed....consolidated loan companies are awful.
One of the easiest ways I know to pay down (old) debt without using these companies or filing for bankruptcy is to start with your lowest debt amount, concentrate on paying as much as you can toward it (over the minimum payment). Once that is paid, work on the next lowest.

I've seen it work for a number of people, but there may still be other ideas or better ideas.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Fri 2 May 2008, 1:24, closed)

i find it easy to deal with them
i'm not in debt, i don't have any credit cards and i don't intend to get any. if i can't afford to buy something with cash, that's tough shit. i'll save up for it.
(LIMES, Fri 2 May 2008, 2:58, closed)

Money speak.
Think of me as Martin Lewis, the 'Money Saving Expert' but without the 'snazzy' dress sense and camp-as-fuck mincing swagger.

The most effective way to pay off your debts when in difficulty is to prioritise them in order of interest rate rather than outstanding amount. You should pay off the higher interest debts first as they're costing you the most money in interest.
Also, if you're really in the shit and can't afford to make minimum payments etc. you should deal with the creditors yourself. Although debt chasers are usually right pushy bastards (they presume you WON'T pay rather than CAN'T) their job is essentially to recover money. You can often negotiate for them to suspend interest charges by agreeing to certain criteria.

Basically, if you explain that you're in the shit you can normally agree a reduced payment plan to clear the debt. If you get onto it early enough this can even avoid CCJ's as they'd rather have a small ammount of regular money from you than have all the fuck on of taking you to court.
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Fri 2 May 2008, 12:11, closed)

@SmashMonkey
Good luck buying a house, then.
(Musuko, Fri 2 May 2008, 15:56, closed)

@musuko
buy a house? i inherited one.
(LIMES, Fri 2 May 2008, 16:47, closed)

Grrr!
I work for a bank, and have dealt with these debt agencies a lot. Yes, they ARE a rip off.

Want a little secret? If you can't pay us, and you can prove that you can't pay us, we'll rewrite your balance interest free over a longer period so that we get our money back rather than risk not getting anything back when you go bankrupt.
( SeasonTicketless is too often the statue, and rarely the pigeon., Mon 5 May 2008, 7:50, closed)

@Smashmonkey
It's easy to be smug about how good you are with money when the largest expense you'll ever have to deal with is handed to you for free, isn't it?
(Musuko, Mon 5 May 2008, 17:11, closed)

yes.
yes it is.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Tue 6 May 2008, 0:43, closed)