If you owe money to a company it's known as a debt, and taking the help of a third party to get out of a situation of financial debt is debt management. In the current economic climate many profitable and non profitable organisations have sprung up to help people in financial credit crisis. Spending less than what you earn does of course reduce the chances of you falling into financial difficulty but in extreme cases a debt management plans will help you keep your personal finances under control. Debt or credit councellors, trained in money management, budgeting and credit monitoring will help you minimise the heavy debt and damaged credit with their structured repayment plans. Generally the debt councilor will take the debtor through a step by step assessment of their current financial situation. A list of the debtor’s income and expenditure such as rent, loans, mortgage amounts, medical bills, car payments, cost of living and so on is calculated and the total outstanding amount is known as disposable income.

Next an assessment is completed to acertain what you can comfortably afford to repay towards your debts each month. The debt management company will then undertake a negotiation process with the creditors for payment of debts over a longer period of time in reduced interest rates. Most creditors do not hesitate to agree with a debt management plan because, from past experience, they know that the plans are generally successful with regards to repayment of the debts.

Sometimes debtors will even lower interest rates and waive certain fees and or charges in debt mangement negotiations. Debt management plans are generally reviewed at intervals and sometimes with face to face meetings to see that customers are still able to continue repaying their debt until it's cleared. A single monthly payment is made to the debt management company who distribute the required amounts evenly among the creditors, for this service they charge a very nominal rate as service charge, usually 10 to 15 per cent.

Simon Duffy writes for the debt blog a UK blog about debt help and debt management. If you're struggling with debts then we have the latest news and money saving tips to help you cope with debt

Tags: economic climate, extreme cases, loans mortgage, car payments, negotiation process, debt management plans, debt management plan, debt management company, credit crisis, financial difficulty, income and expenditure, financial debt, credit monitoring, nominal rate