Are you immersed in a pool of debt? Do you want to review your financial status? You can opt for debt counseling and debt review. These can help in assessing your financial condition and at the same time bring you out of a critical debt repayment. In this article, we will discuss about being over-indebted and the idea of debt counseling.
Over-Indebted
You can become over-indebted when the amount left in your hand after deducting the monthly expenditure from your net salary is less than the installment you paying on your debts. You can opt for debt counseling when you are over-indebted.
Debt Counseling
Debt counseling is done by trained people called debt counselors. They are experts who handle your creditors in such a way that the two they reach a mutual agreement. According to that agreement, you can have some money for your everyday expenditure and keep the remaining for paying off the creditors.
Debt counselors investigate into your lifestyle and income status, before recommending the restructuring of your debts to courts and the credit providers.
If, after investigations the debt counselor realizes that you do not qualify for suspension of debt repayment, he or she can plan a monthly budget for you. This will help you pay your debt regularly.
Debt Review
When a debt counselor assesses your debt status and then comes up with strategies to help you out, it is called debt review. The procedure of debt review commences with you applying for a review and ends with a “Clearance Certificate.” The certificate is issued by the debt counselor after your debts are settled.
Advantages of Debt Counseling
- The first thing you should know is that debt review does not leave a black mark and neither does debt counseling. This is because debt counseling does not come with a permanent record on the database of Consumer Credit Bureau.
- Approach a certified debt counselor. He or she can get a more affirmative response from credit providers than you.
- Once you make an application for debt review, the court or credit providers cannot take any more legal action against you. This situation continues until and unless the debt counselor comes forward with a verdict as to whether you are at all over-indebted or not. If the verdict is that you are really over-indebted, your status continues until the entire debt is paid.
- The counselor sets aside a particular amount for your daily requirements. The money left over is used to pay off creditors.
- Post debt review and debt counseling, you will have to pay a monthly sum to a payment distribution agency. The agency then distributes the money among your creditors. A single payment makes managing your finances easy and also lowers your bank fees.
- An experienced and a well-qualified debt counselor can give you smart tips to help reduce your monthly expenses.
- The biggest advantage of debt counseling is that you are relieved from the pressure of being indebted. Visiting a counselor gives you the confidence that you are doing something fruitful about your financial position. He or she is qualified to offer you good advice. If you listen to the counselor, you may soon be able to pay off all the debt you have incurred.
Therefore, if you feel that you are facing problem in paying debt to your creditors, visit a debt counselor. He or she can assess whether you are over-indebted or not. A debt counselor assists you deal with the problem of debt paying, instead of running away from it. What you have to do next depends on this assessment and the suggestions you get from the counselor.