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Contact Laurant Systems
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Debt consolidation allows you to pool your debts into a single loan, making it much easier to manage repayments.
If your application for a debt consolidation loan is approved (you’ll have to meet certain risk criteria), your credit provider will pay off your outstanding loans and pull the collective debt into a single larger loan. This makes repayment easier while also saving you money in admin fees.
A debt consolidation loan will have a longer loan term than your original credit accounts. This lowers your monthly instalment, making it more affordable. But it also makes your debt more costly in the long run since it increases the amount of interest you pay. For this reason, you should always aim to pay off your debt as quickly as possible - even if you initially use a debt consolidation loan to make monthly repayments more affordable.
When your outstanding debt has been settled, your loan accounts (such as personal loans) are closed, but your store and credit cards remain open (if you’ve had trouble managing your debt, it would be a good idea to close these).
Lower monthly instalments might free up some of your budget, but this shouldn’t be interpreted as greater spending power. Such an attitude could land you in even more debt. If you have any disposable income, it should go straight into paying off your debt consolidation loan.
Another risk with debt consolidation is that while it can help you make minimum repayments, it invites you to stay in debt longer, which, as has already been pointed out, raises the cost of your debt, and increases the chances of you accruing more debt. If you take out a debt consolidation loan, your goal should be to pay off your debt as quickly as possible even with the lower minimum repayments.
Your credit score can affect the outcome of your debt consolidation application and whether you’ll be able to afford the newly proposed repayment. A good credit score can reduce the interest rate charged on your consolidation loan while a bad credit score can see you paying higher interest rates, as the financial institution will see you as a high-risk customer.
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