Atlantic Financial Management

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Choose debt advice over loan sharks

24/05/2010

People owing money would be much better off if they seek debt advice, rather than going to loan sharks.

This comes after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced plans to make credit unions more visible and educate more people about the dangers of going to illegal loan sharks.

However, for many a small loan would not be enough to ease their financial worries and they may need some formal debt help, such as a Debt Management Plan (DMP).

These are available for people with serious personal debt issues and repayments to your creditors are based upon what you can reasonably afford. If you use a reputable Debt Management Company (DMC) then it is probable that interest and charges will be frozen on the debt balances, so that despite reduced payments you are actually clearing the debt balance. They allow the debtor to pay off what they owe without putting the family home at risk and are very flexible to changes in circumstances.

Another of the appealing factors of a DMP is that once a person enters one, their creditors generally no longer chase them for payment and communicate through their appointed DMC.

Atlantic Financial Management's director, Kevin Still, says: "Our concern is that many people with serious debt problems are using high interest credit, like pay day loans, simply to pay existing debt commitments, like credit card debts. This is the basis of a debt spiral and debt advice is needed once this becomes apparent." ADNFCR-2613-ID-19794881-ADNFCR