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Credit Card Debt Forgiveness – Does it Really Exist and Can it Help Your Finances?

The percentage of credit card defaults hit a record 11.37 percent according to Fitch Ratings as reported in the Associated Press, March 2010. Many more families are paying the minimum payments on their credit card balances keeping them in debt for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

If you have checked into the many avenues to clear your debt then you know that credit card debt forgiveness is possible but confusing. Options available include debt consolidation, debt management, and other debt solutions but it’s hard to decide the right option for your particular situation.

Scams are plentiful with companies charging consumers thousands of dollars in fees and not providing the help promised. Consumers are scared to seek help out of their dilemma because they don’t know who to trust.

Finding the help with credit card forgiveness will require extreme due diligence. These are steps you can take in your investigation.

• Stop using your cards immediately!

• Start with finding and reading reliable information on credit card debt forgiveness on the Internet. Try to find information from sites that don’t have a hidden agenda such as consumer advocate or government websites.

• Read practical advice from good books by authors who are well-versed in consumer debt. Many books are written to help you manage or find relief from your credit card debt. When was the last time you visited your public library?

• Contact your credit card companies to let them know you are experiencing difficulty in making your payments. Running from phone calls and late statements only raises your anxiety levels and makes the credit card companies view you as someone avoiding their obligations.

• Come up with a plan to reduce your debt yourself or get help through debt consolidation loan. It’s not a good idea to borrow money to pay off debt because you end up paying more. However, a consolidation loan will pay off creditors who are hounding you for money and give you more time to get your debt management plan in place.

• You can find free, legitimate credit counseling services through universities, credit unions, military bases, the US Extension Service, and the US Housing Authority. Some non-profit organizations such as churches and woman’s groups provide credit counseling services.

Bankruptcy should be your last resort because of the long-term consequences of ruined credit for several years and loss of property.

Debt settlement and bankruptcy both are debt relief options. These options are chosen when an individual had stuck deep in debt and looking to get out of it. When a person is knee deep in debt meaning he/she has no sources of income to clear the debt in a fair way. Hence, one has to look for debt relief options to become debt free.

Debt settlement and bankruptcy, each has its own advantageous and disadvantageous. Before taking decision to choose one particular, it is very important to know about each option and how one differs from other.

The main difference between debt settlement and bankruptcy is that, debt settlement is an agreement between you and lender that is taken care of out the court steps whereas the bankruptcy is legal procedure that is taken care of attorney inside the court steps to discharge liability.


If bankruptcy is filled perfectly and one who files qualifies for it, the court can order or enforce the creditors to discharge the debt. In general there are two types of bankruptcies for consumer to file. They are chapter 7 and chapter 13.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is to be filled when you want to eliminate debt and chapter 13 to restructure debt into a repayment plan based on how much the debtor can repay, not necessarily the whole amount the debtor owes. According to earlier laws of bankruptcies laws, a person who files bankruptcies will manage to discharge whole debt that he incurred till then but recent laws that amended do not allow to discharge some debts like student debt secured by federal government, taxes etc.

In addition, the bankruptcy filled will be reported to credit rating agencies and that will stay on your credit report for at least 10 years. Bankruptcy on your credit report will have negative impact on your credit score and as a result your future credit will be impacted.

On the other hand, debt settlement is a process that is carried out of court agreement made between debtor and creditor. The agreement is made for the benefit of both the debtor and creditor. With debt settlement, the debtor will not manage to discharge the debt as in case of bankruptcy instead a repayment plan that is in favour of all the creditors of debtor will be made. For debt consolidation to work, it requires that each and every creditor must agree to debt settlement and its repayment plan terms.

Debt settlement in the same way as bankruptcy will be reported to credit rating agencies. Debt settlement will remain on your credit report for 7 years. It is natural that credit score will be impacted in either of the option and if you are in such a position to opt either of the option, then you are already half way down of your credit score and at the same time with any option total debt will not be discharged.

Since the impact of debt relief options is much less than bankruptcy and they are easier for you to handle the procedure. Choosing the debt relief option enables the lender to get some amount from you instead of walking away will all the debt.

Is PPI a Necessity?

There are many terms associated with Payment Protection Insurance, such as Loan Protection Insurance and PPI among others. Basically, Payment Protection Insurance covers the policyholder if they become unable to work if they have been made redundant, have had an accident, or they have developed an illness. When looking at PPI policies, it is important to remember that they are all going to offer different positives and negatives as they are all different. The problem with this type of insurance is that it has paved the way for ppi claims. It is not uncommon for Payment Protection Insurance to be sold alongside a credit card or a loan. However, PPI can be purchased on it’s own for individuals who require it.

Mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance is a major problem with this type of policy. There are many reasons as to why this happens, most commonly because the customer does not understand what they are buying, or they did not know that they purchased the policy. Because of the many issues surrounding the sales of PPI, the Office of Fair Trading has opened an investigation.

Fortunately, there are many other points that make a good argument for the positive side of Payment Protection Insurance. One of these is that if you have a lot of debt that needs to be paid off then PPI could be that extra reassurance that you need. The great thing about PPI is that it offers reassurance in the form of protection is the policy older is unable to earn an income to pay off their debts due to health reasons. With a PPI policy you are only required to pay a certain amount of money each month to ensure that you are protected in the event of becoming unable to work.

There are, however, a few different things that need to be kept in mind when it comes to Payment Protection Insurance policies. One very important thing to remember is that there are many different PPI providers around, and they are all in competition with each other. This means that one provider may be able to offer you a much better deal than another, and one may have some benefits that another cannot offer you. This means that carefully considering all of the different Payment Protection Insurance providers around. This enables you to ensure that you are getting the best deal possible, and also makes sure that you are not being mis-sold PPI. If you have been mis-sold PPI then you can claim back ppi by using a claims company.