Clear start

thecabby

I had a discussion today with national debt line, they put me in touch with a firm of accountants called clear start, has anyone had dealings with this company

mwarby

Not myself, what are they looking at an IVA or a DMP. If they are looking at an IVA be careful. 

Generally an IVA is only suited to those with property to protect and a steady income, IVAs are well promoted as the companies which set them up stand to make 2-3k in most cases

fatbelly

thecabby said:

I had a discussion today with national debt line, they put me in touch with a firm of accountants called clear start, has anyone had dealings with this company

Are you sure you talked to National debtline?
The genuine  details are here
https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/Pages/default.aspx

clukka24

hi,
me too, I was directed to clear start accountants by step change debt help, are they legit?
They (clear start) have offered to do a personal budget scheme for me, at a cost of £102 per month, out of which I presume they are going to pay my creditors. Is this for real? it then reduces to £40 per month, for the term of the 12-month contract. I don't want to sign anything to them until I hear if there are others who have used this company 
many thanks

mwarby

Stepchange have a number of clones, it’s quite possible you found one of these. The correct website is www.stepchange.org

clukka24

hi,
sorry, I meant clear start, not step change, are they kosher?
thank you 

mwarby

clukka24 said:

hi,
me too, I was directed to clear start accountants by step change debt help, are they legit?
They (clear start) have offered to do a personal budget scheme for me, at a cost of £102 per month, out of which I presume they are going to pay my creditors. Is this for real? it then reduces to £40 per month, for the term of the 12-month contract. I don't want to sign anything to them until I hear if there are others who have used this company 
many thanks

The scheme sounds odd, debt plans are normally based upon what you can afford. Unless your debts are around the 1k mark or you know your income will fall such that you can afford less I don’t see why the repayment reduces

itd help if you can post an SOA https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php that would allow us to make sense of your situation and therefor wether the scheme makes sense. If it doesn’t we can suggest debt options which may suit

clukka24

sure, I'll do that now, thanks
my main concern is, has anyone else used clear start?
it's a personal budget scheme that they're offering me, I just don't get how it can work and what am I paying for etc?? Is the fee paying off my creditors? 

mwarby

Ok so it https://clearstartaccountants.co.uk/personal-budgeting-service

So your paying them to draw up a budget for you and suggest you switch some energy bills.

While this may help you deal with debt by working out where your money goes, it’s not a way of dealing with problem debt imho.

They aren’t doing anything you can’t do yourself for free MSE has several resources about budgeting https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning/ you might also want to look at a budgeting app such as YNAB (it’s not free but a lot cheaper than the solution you found, it’s also quite invasive which can be good early on, as it encourages you to stick with it)

If you have a debt problem we can try to help but need more info

BT100

mwarby said:

Stepchange have a number of clones, it’s quite possible you found one of these. The correct website is www.stepchange.org

I went to the wrong step change and got sent to clear start as well!  thanks for posting correct link!

sourcrates

For the avoidance of doubt, you do not need to pay anyone to draw up a budget for you, why on earth would you ????

Clear start offers accountancy services, mainly to business and the self employed.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with any debt solution.