Debt management is one of the fastest growing enterprises there is, this is due to the willingness of banks and financial agencies to lend huge amounts of unsecured debt, to anyone that look as though they can afford the repayments.

If you think that this is an overexagerration then ask yourself why these companies would lend thousands to people above working age (OAP's to you lot) who have only a pension coming in and who struggle to meet the payments on a standard creit card let alone a platinum!

Credit card companies get you hooked by giving you a limit that is small and you can easiy afford, and then they up it, and up it, until you can no longer afford it and you take out another to pay that one and then you take out another and then a loan, and before you know it you are sinking.

This is when you start taking notice of the adverts on the TV, we can write off up to 90% of your debt, free consultation and so on.

Let us start with the consultation, which is free from all companies no matter who they are, the rest however is not. Any company apart from ones like CCCS and CAB that say they do not charge a fee, they mean they do not charge an up front fee, not that they do not charge at all. Most companies charge a percentage on the amount of debt you have.

IVA's are the hottest selling product there is, except you can not get one unless you have at least five working years left, are guaranteed to be in employment for five years and are able to pay a minimum of £350.00 a month, you also have to have some equity in your property in order to release it for the final payment. The criteria for an IVA is very stringent and most people end up in debt management.

To be honest the only thing that debt management does it save you the hassle of people calling you every five minutes (supposedly) there is nothing that the company does that you cannot do for yourself, though they will of course tell you different. They contact your creditors, set up a plan of low monthly repayments, send an income and expenditure form, negotiate the low payments and charge you an exorbitant fee for doing it. Of course the good ones do keep your creditors at bay and some of the creditor companies do freeze interest and charges,but they dont all freeze interest and charges and some companies will consistantly call the client to try to get payments out of them over the phone (they get paid commission on them)so unless you know how to handle them you still get the hassle.

One of the main things you need to know if you are having creditor hassle is that these companies that call you and threaten you are actually not allowed to do so. There are, apart from harrasment laws, several guidelines set down for finance companies to follow that disallows the threatening of clients.

The most important change for finance companies, no matter who they are collectors or lenders, is the bringing in of the Treat Customers Fairly Charter by the Office fo Fair Trading. Every company that deals with the public in the whole of Great Britain comes under this charter. It basically sets down rules and regulations of ways that you can and cannot treat your clients. There is a huge fine or the closure of business as a penalty for breaking this charter and believe me the OFT take it very seriuosly!

If you are having financial difficulties and you do not feel that you can afford 'proffesional' help, there are many ways to help yourself, lots of sites on the net for you to go to, or if you prefer PM me and I will advise you on the income and expenditure and how to deal with your creditors.

Just remember, the whole world is in debt, it is nothing to be ashamed of, we are in a credit crunch and lots more people will be going the debt management way in the next few months. My Advise, if you dont qualify for an IVA, dont do it, debt management is all about profit, dont be fooled by the fancy adverts, only 25% of people that answer them end up on an IVA, the rest end up in 'informal' programmes that cannot guarantee interest and charges stopped, or that the creditors will not take the court route.

Sounds like the title of a new Disney movie.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has reprted a loss in income for the first time in years (what they really mean is they have not made as much profit) while the major shareholders cry in to their champagne and imported strawberries the rest of the ordinary people will suffer for this dramatic turn of events.

They will not be the only bank to moan though, quite a few others will bemoan the fact that their already overstuffed coifers will have a little less in them this year, the fact that they have still made around five billion in profit means very little, except to the man in the street, and those that work for them. There are going to be cut backs which will mean staff cuts, whats new there then?

But I will not cry over RBS's loss, they along with the Clydesdale Bank and the HBOS are amongst the meanest banks in the United Kingdom, quite apart from the extortinate interest rates and charges, they took the most people to court over the past year and obtained charging orders and inhibitions*

They constantly ring people and intimidate them,threatening over the phone to 'send in the boys' I thought this kind of thing had gone out in the fifties?

They will not do settlements, wanting back every last penny, bearing in mind that most of what they want back is interest and that you, the ordinary person, have not actually had that money.

An example of the meanness of RBS, a 74 year old man is chronically ill, he has Emphysema and can walk no farther than the door to his room, he has other ailments too, he lives off his pension which he stretches to pay his creditors, bear in mind that he has been a loyal customer always paying his way until he became too ill to do the little work he did on the side to keep them happy. He never had credit when he was younger, but these banks kept tempting him and then he had a lot of taxi fares to and from hospital and various other things so he had to use his card, and the bank kept giving him money, and the snow ball kept going. He ended up he couldn't pay the monthly amounts and he ended up in debt management. The company he was with stopped charging him the minute he became really ill, they supplied their services free an set about trying to get his debts wiped off.

The only two companies that refused to wipe the debts were HBOS and RBS, The response from RBS was that he had £11.29 a week spare when he had paid his basic dues therefore he could pay them it! (And I have that in writing!) Eventually HBOS gave him a settlement, only after months of harrasing them did I get one off RBS and they knocked him 20% off, he still paid more than he originally owed them with the interest added.

And dont think that I have fogotten our old friends Barclays, though in saying this I have to say that Barclays do give more settlements than the others, except again we have the scenario of the 83 year old sick man who they have refused to allow to settle his debts instead they would rather take a £1.00 a month off him?

Considering the profits that these people make per year wiping off the debts of OAP's in these conditions is not a lot to ask.

Banks to be praised mainly HFC/Household/Beneficial, they are one of the most understanding and cutomer orientated banks I have come across.

Co-Operative are not too bad at wiping off and settling.

HSBC, settlements but lousy at write offs.

So dont cry too much over the lack of profits this year for the RBS and others, after all they wont cry over yours.

*A charging order is granted by the courts and changes an unsecured debt into one secured against your property, in Scotland this is called an inhibition and is against the person meaning any property he owns can be the subject of a force of sale.

*RBS also consist of Natwest, Sainsbury and Tesco and several other smaller subsideries