Debt Advice Charities Explained

http://ukdebthelper.blogspot.com/Many people are told when they are in debt to go and speak to a debt advice charity. People are generally told debt advice charities are the best option because they do not charge the client for advice. For profit debt advice providers typically charge the client for advice in order to gain a revenue stream.

The debt advice charities can be split into three different categories. The difference between these charities is down to who owns them and where the funding is provided. Each has their merits and overall they are generally better than for profit organisations.

The three debt advice charity types include Government funded, Creditor funded & Solution funded.

Government funded

A Government funded debt advice charity is the Citizens Advice Bureau where volunteers and funded advisor's supply advice on debt advice. You can go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau for advice and help on your debts. There are positives and negatives to the Citizens Advice Bureau option.

Positives

- Most independent form of debt advice
- Government funded so the most secure

Negatives

- The waiting time can be 8 weeks and longer to see a specialist
- The advice is typically provided by volunteers and this can mean the quality of advice and knowledge is not always the best in the industry

Creditor funded

The second type of debt advice charity is a creditor funded option. Debt charities such as the CCCS, National Debtline and Payplan are all funded by the creditors. The people who have clients in debt such as the major banks and credit lenders will donate money to the creditor funded charities to allow them to give debt advice. Again, there are positives and negatives to this type of debt charity

Positives

- The advice is typically immediate
- The charity status should mean the charity is not focussed on making a profit

Negatives

- The advice is provided by an organisation funded by your creditors
- There are some people who believe the advice is biased towards the creditors and you could be asked to repay your debt over longer than 20 years.

Solution funded

The solution funded debt advice charity is an organisation such as Debt Support Trust. The charity helps people via the telephone and internet. This type of charity receives their funding from helping the client gather their paperwork and introducing the client to a company to provide the solution.

Positives

- The advice is typically immediate
- The charity status should mean the charity is not focussed on making a profit

Negatives

- The money to continue to help other people comes from a small percentage of solutions
- Whilst this type of charity does not look to make a profit they do need enough income from helping clients to continue to help other people. The payment this type of charity receives does not come directly from the person in debts pocket.

What is the best type of debt charity?
 
Each debt advice charity has its benefit and negative. Do you want to wait for debt advice, would you want to speak to a charity funded by the people who gave you the debt or would you prefer to speak to a charity who receives a payment for introducing you to a debt solution company.

The alternatives option is to speak to a company who will charge you for advice and may place you in the wrong debt solution (debt management plan for over 40 years for instance).

The safest route for people in debt is the debt charities. What debt charity you decide to chose is your decision but our advice would be to speak to several debt organisations to see which one is most caring. You can also speak to a number of debt charities in order to see what debt solutions they recommend and make a decision which one you wish to follow.