When you are deep in debt and you find yourself struggling to keep up with all the payments, you need to stop and consider your options first. While it is admirable for you to try to work things out on your own, you might want to get credit card help from an expert.
There are a lot of companies out there that offer their services to people who have debt troubles. Unfortunately, some of them are out to scam you. Before you put your trust in a service that promises to get rid of your debt for you and offer you the stars and the skies, you need to conduct your own due diligence to make sure they are what they claim to be.
How to Choose Help
Scams target financially desperate people so if you are looking for a company to help you out of your crisis, you should display personal vigilance to make sure this step will not place your further into debt. The best way to find out if this is a company worth trusting is to do your research.
Search the Internet for any review provided for the company. Be very careful about this because some of them put out sponsored reviews – thus conducting a biased account of how great they are. Check authority sites and community forums. The best testament to the effectiveness of a credit help company is through past clients.
The next thing to look for are the accreditations posted on their site. See which groups they are affiliated with. If they all check out, you should be assured that they can help you.
While some legit companies have their share of praises and complaints, give them the benefit of the doubt by dissecting what the complaints are all about. Try not to be too boxed in about your thinking here. Ultimately, trust your gut instinct in selecting the company that you will enlist for credit card help.
What to Ask
When you have selected the company that you want to trust, take the first step to get to know them better. Call them or send them a email to set an appointment. If their office is near you, meet with them personally to discuss your different options. The first meeting or consultation is usually free so do not be afraid to go through with this. If anything, they will help you paint a picture of your current financial situation and come up with a rough draft of what you should do.
During your initial meeting or conversation, ask them if they have dealt with the creditors that you have. Some companies refuse to work on secured debts and prefer unsecured loans. Be wary of companies that say they can settle secured debts.
Also, let them describe the type of service that they can include in the package – apart from helping you settle your debts. Some offer financial consultations and budget planning seminars.
About their fees, be careful of companies that require an upfront payment even before you start. Get an idea about the structure of their fees – like is it FTC compliant?
The next step is to ask for their accreditation and license list. Verify if these are trustworthy and legitimate.
Lastly, ask for a list of references. A legitimate company will let you in on what they have done before to prove to you of their capabilities. This way, you can check their success rate and how they have helped previous clients.
National Debt Relief is a debt settlement company that have helped a lot of people get their way past difficult financial crisis. Give us a call so we can talk about why we are the company that you should trust to help you.