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Debt Management Fees

A Debt Management Plan is best handled by an experienced provider. Lawrence Charlton is our Debt Management provider, and will be the area of our group that takes care of your case. 

They negotiate with your creditors on your behalf, asking them to freeze interest and stop all charges.

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As with all other companies that provide Debt Management, creditors don’t have to agree to do this, but Lawrence Charlton has an outstanding track record in persuading them to offer a reasonable and affordable way forward.

Whilst setting up your plan, Lawrence Charlton will retain your first two payments to cover administration and set up costs, we will explain further down what this fee covers.  Once you make your first payment, Lawrence Charlton will start work on your case and begin negotiating with your creditors straight away.

There is also an ongoing monthly management fee for running your Debt Management Plan and it is set at 17.5% of your monthly payment subject to a minimum fee of £30 and a maximum fee of £100. This fee is always included in your single monthly payment and we will never ask you to pay anything separate.

The initial fee and the monthly management fee are in line with other members of the Debt Managements Standards Association (DEMSA). DEMSA is the only regulatory body whose code of conduct is approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). In short, the code maintains that we must act with clarity and honest and give advice that both the consumers and the creditors can have faith in. The DEMSA code of conduct is available on request.

What do the fees cover

Your first two payments cover the following:

• Administration and set up.
• Agreeing a personal monthly budget with you.
• Liaising with your creditors and negotiating a solution for you.
• Drawing up the documentation for a plan that is right for you.
• Sending out a courier to offer peace of mind regarding the collection of your documentation.
• Offering support to you with regards any letters, emails or phone calls you may receive, helping you to understand them and advising what to do with them.
• Offering advice to you on what creditors can or cannot do whilst the plan is set up

Your monthly fee covers the following:

• Conducting annual reviews with you to ensure everything is running smoothly with your plan, this includes looking at ways we can help you make sure you’re getting good value on items such as Gas, Electricity, Broadband, Life Insurance etc.
• Dedicated customer support team to help you with any general query or issue.
• Offering support to you with regards any letters, emails or phone calls you may receive, helping you to understand them and advising what to do with them.
• Ongoing negotiations with your creditors to ensure your plan runs smoothly
• Distribution of your monthly payment to your creditors.

Below is an example of a typical Debt Management Plan showing how it works and how it can benefit clients.

Case study – Mr Peters Before contacting us Mr Peters owed £11,000 and was paying £550 per month on his loan and 3 credit cards which he was really struggling with. He was really worried as he was about to fall into arrears as he could no longer keep up to date with the payments. He had also been ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ (transferring balances and paying credit off with credit) and had started to reach the limit on his cards. He had applied for more credit but had been refused. After one conversation with Mr Peters and having discussed his situation when taking into account all his circumstances we identified a Debt Management Plan as the most appropriate solution for him. Having set up a Debt Management Plan with Lawrence Charlton, Mr Peters now pays £180, which covers all his unsecured debts. We have been able to take some of the pressure off by dealing with his creditors on his behalf, and having tailored the monthly payment to his circumstances he now no longer needs to keep taking credit out to keep up to date with his payments.

The monthly payment of £180 includes our monthly fee of £30.

Some important things to remember about fees: 

• Your single monthly payment covers all our fees, you will never be asked to pay anything more. Some companies charge an annual review fee, we do not do this.
• We will always tell you what fees are involved and how they are calculated before you commit to a Debt Management Plan.
• We will negotiate with your creditors to freeze or reduce interest.
• Our customer care team are always on hand to help if you are struggling.