Very dangerous. These firms prey on people who are in difficulty with debt. They call themselves 'IVA Practitioners' Believe me they are suited crooks. I have watched while an acquaintance of mine was charged an upfront fee, got a reduction in the debt, and then had a further set of charges added back in. The repayments were still unrealistic and despite asking for a fresh look at things the firm did nothing. Why? Because they had already had a chunk of cash for doing sod all. The IVA failed and my friend self declared bankruptcy. Which was an ideal solution in their case. But the IVA fees were money down the drain.
It's hard to advise you as I don't know your circs. But you should be able to negotiate some sort of repayment scheme that you can afford. Firms will often agree a reduction in the interest if you can convince them you will repay an agreed sum regularly. (Which is all an IVA firm does). If you owe a lot and own no assets to speak of such as a house or large car. bankruptcy is the perfect answer as it all gets written off. Research it on the net. But avoid IVAs at all costs.While some of these firms are honest, some are outright crooks, and even the honest ones cannot help much. Remember, you will generally have to pay all (or almost all) debts that you owe (unless you declare a banrkuptcy), and no firm can help you to avoid this re-payment. What these firms may potentially do for you is (1) help you find a loan with a lower interest; (2) help you figure out how much you have to pay monthly in order to get out of debt; (3) help decide which debts (e.g. high-interest ones) must be paid first; (4) help you reduce the number of harussing phone calls from collection agencies. What they CANNOT do is (1) truly reduce your debt, (2) give you any real piece of mind, or (3) do any other major magic. Note that what they do you can generally do yourself after some basic readings on debt management, which is readily available on the internet. If you cannot because you are too confused, ask for help of a financially savvy friend (who is not in debt himself/herself). I have done this service for my friends a few times (completely free of course), and I honeslty believe that I did no worse than the firms that charge for the same service. Most likely, you have friends who can do the same for you.DMP are really very helpful in sorting out your debt problems but you have to be very careful while selecting one. As there are many people who get trapped into the web spun by the dishonest counselors.

If chosen wisely, it will assist you in reducing your monthly outgoings. My cousin has taken a debt management plan through:
http://www.longdogfinance.co.uk/debt-management.html
It has been one year and till now he has got no problem.

 

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