A debt management plan is an informal arrangement, put in place to repay outstanding unsecured debt to companies you owe money, when you find yourself struggling to meet monthly payments.

No, a debt management plan is a way to manage your debts. We don't buy the debt from the companies you owe, nor do we loan you money to cover your existing debts. We help you to manage your debts by offering a reduced payment to the companies you owe and then negotiate to freeze interest and charges.

debtsmart, the debt management plan from iSmart offers a unique debt solution. debtsmart can reduce your debt if you have been mis sold Payment Protection Insurance and have unfair credit card charges which can be claimed back. With debtsmart, you will have a dedicated Financial Solutions Advisor, who will assess your monthly income and expenditure and put together a payment plan tailored to your needs.

The debtsmart plan aims to take away the stress and worry caused by unpaid bills and mounting debt. We can deal with all the letters and correspondence you receive from the companies you owe money to, on your behalf.

We will also negotiate with them, requesting they accept reduced monthly payments and freeze interest and charges on your accounts to stop your debts increasing further.

We will take the first two monthly payments on your plan to cover the cost of setting up the plan and contacting your creditors. We will start paying your creditors from the third monthly payment received.

Your creditors will receive a payment from us within five working days of receipt of your payment to us.

From the third month we will charge a monthly fee equivalent to 10% of your monthly payment. This covers the ongoing costs of administering your plan.

You are free to leave the plan at any time and there will be no charge to do so.

• do you struggle to keep up with monthly payments on your loans and credit cards?
• are you being hassled with demanding letters and telephone calls from the companies you owe money to?
• do you need to cut the cost of your monthly payments?
• do you want to clear your debts without taking out another loan or credit card ?

If you answered yes to one or more of the following, then the debtsmart debt management plan could be the intelligent solution to your debt problems.

A debt management plan is put in place to repay outstanding unsecured debt, secure debts such as mortgages and hire purchase (HP) agreements cannot be included, as failure to make the necessary payments on these loans can lead to repossession.

Debts that can be included are:

• Personal Loans
• Credit Cards
• Store Cards
• Overdrafts

Initially, you may still receive telephone calls and letters.

Once the debtsmart debt management plan has been in place for a few months, all letters and telephone calls should stop.

Any letters you receive should be forwarded to us in the freepost envelopes provided and we will deal with them on your behalf.

How much you pay on a debt management plan, depends on what you can afford, realistically. We will assess what you earn, what you owe and how much money you need to live on, to work out a realistic payment each month to the companies you owe.

If a full repayment, as per your original contract, is not made, your credit rating will be affected, as you are not complying with the original agreement.

A debtsmart debt management plan is put in place to help you clear your debts more quickly; however, your credit rating will be affected in the short term. With a debt management plan you may also end up paying your debts back over a longer period and therefore you may pay more.