Is a Debt Management Plan Right For Me?

If your financial assessment indicates that, despite your income, you won’t be able to pay down your unsecured debt in a reasonable timeframe without significant concessions from your creditors – such as interest rate reductions or fee waivers – your counselor may suggest that you enroll in our debt management plan, often referred to as a DMP.

After your assessment, your counselor will advise you as to whether a DMP is appropriate for your circumstances.  Please bear in mind that a DMP is not the recommended course of action for everyone. Only 15% of the consumers we talk to in a given month join a DMP.  Many people already have enough income to handle their debt, but need to establish budget priorities or make adjustments so they can make their payments more comfortably.  Others have so little income that the concessions typically granted by their creditors still won’t result in affordable payments. If either is true in your case, it will be your counselor’s responsibility to advise you that a DMP isn’t appropriate for your circumstances.  That doesn’t mean we aren’t going to help you – we’ll still provide all the educational resources we have to help you deal with your situation more effectively, and we’ll even show you how to request creditor concessions on your own – but in such circumstances we won’t recommend a debt management plan.

If a DMP is the best course of action, your counselor will process all of your information, particularly with respect to your specific creditors, and then go over every possible aspect of the program with you.  The counselor will let you know what your monthly payment would be, which of your creditors is likely to grant concessions and which may not, and let you know how long it would take under the plan to pay off your debt.  The counselor will answer any question you may have, allowing you to make the informed decision that’s best for you.