Where can I find the best debt management?

In reality, there’s no such thing as best Debt Management, it really depends on what’s important to you. In basic terms, there are two main types of Debt Management, fee paying and non-fee paying.

Fee paying Debt Management is where the company managing your plan will take a percentage of your monthly payment (the amount you have available to give to your creditors each month after your living costs have been deducted). This is usually between 10% to 15%. Some companies will also ask you to pay an amount upfront, before they start to pass payments on to your creditors. Companies that charge a fee argue that you receive a much better service from them than you would get in a non-fee charging Debt Management Plan, which are usually, according to them, administered by ‘over-stretched’ debt charities.

A non-fee charging Debt Management Plan is where the full amount of your monthly payment goes to your creditors, without any management fees being taken out of it. Advocates of non-fee charging Debt Management Plans will point out that because 100% of your monthly payment goes towards paying off your debts, rather than only 85% to 90% in a fee charging plan, your debt is paid off much quicker. Non-fee charging Debt Management companies are able to offer this service for free because they have long standing relationships with most of the major UK lenders, which have agreed to pay them for providing this service.

To find the best Debt Management that is appropriate for your situation, Debt Advice Foundation will only ever recommend a non-fee charging plan.

You can read more about this and whether it is suitable for your situation in our Debt Management section.

Debt Advice Foundation is a registered UK charity offering free, confidential support and advice on any aspect of debt, including Debt Management. If you need to talk to someone about Debt Management or would like to discuss the alternatives, please call to speak to an adviser.