Investopedia’s Rating 4.1 Our Take If you’re struggling to pay back $10,000 or more in debt, Accredited Debt Relief may be able to help through settlement or consolidation. Watch out for high service fees for debt settlement, though, which usually total 25% of the settled debt. We chose Accredited Debt Relief as “best for customer service” on our list of the best debt relief companies thanks to its variety of customer support methods and the many reviews that praise the company’s empathetic and patient debt counselors. Pros & Cons Pros Great customer support Excellent customer reviews Highly accredited Cons Most clients are charged the high end of the fee range (25%) Savings account has setup and maintenance fees Services not available in every state Key Takeaways Company Overview Founded in 2011, Accredited Debt Relief is a San Diego-based company that offers debt resolution services. It's a division of Beyond Finance, LLC. Accredited Debt Relief is accredited by the American Association for Debt Resolution (AADR) and certified by the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA). According to the company, it has over 1,000 employees and has serviced more than $1 billion in debt for over 300,000 clients. Accredited Debt Relief also partners with affiliates to provide consolidation loans of $1,000 to $100,000 to eligible clients. Accredited Debt Relief’s services are not available everywhere. It operates in 30 states and Washington, D.C. Table of Contents Accredited Debt Relief Review 2024 Pros and Cons Explained How Accredited Debt Relief Works Accreditations How to Enroll Types of Debt Addressed Expected Cost Expected Relief Amount Expected Time to Complete the Program Additional Services Client Dashboard Customer Service Customer Satisfaction and Reviews Alternatives Is Debt Settlement Worth It? The Bottom Line FAQs Methodology Accredited Debt Relief provides debt resolution services to help you pay off unmanageable unsecured debt for less than you owe. After an initial free consultation, the Accredited Debt Relief team will give you a recommendation for the best way to move forward. If you choose to enroll in its debt settlement program, you'll begin by telling the company about how much debt you owe (less than $10K, $10K to $20K, or more than $20K). Next, you'll submit some basic personal information to continue the process. Be aware that once you continue from here, you'll give Accredited Debt Relief permission to call or text you. you’ll be instructed to stop making your regular monthly debt payments. Instead, you’ll open a bank account with Beyond Finance (an affiliated company) and begin making monthly deposits there to build up a settlement fund. In the meantime, the company’s debt experts will negotiate with your creditors to attempt to settle your debt. According to the company, it seeks to settle your debt for 50% of what you owe. Some clients become debt-free within two to four years. Accredited Debt Relief only charges a settlement fee if it successfully negotiates a settlement for a debt. Be aware that there’s no guarantee your creditors will agree to a settlement. If they don’t, you may wind up deeper in debt and potentially facing lawsuits as well. You can enroll with Accredited Debt Relief on its website or by phone. Accredited Debt Relief can help you deal with various types of debt, including the following. Credit card debt often carries high interest rates, making it difficult to pay off. Accredited Debt Relief may be able to help you get out of credit card debt sooner. If you’ve accrued debt on a store-issued credit card, Accredited Debt Relief can help with that as well. You may have borrowed a personal loan for any number of reasons, such as paying for home renovations, covering an emergency expense, or financing another personal cost. Accredited Debt Relief may be able to help you resolve your personal loan debt. Suffering an illness or injury can leave you with sky-high hospital bills. Medical bills are eligible for a debt settlement program with Accredited Debt Relief. Although Accredited Debt Relief largely works with unsecured debt, it may be able to help you with debt that’s secured by collateral. According to customer support, the borrower must indicate that they understand their collateral could be seized as part of the debt resolution. If the borrower doesn’t accept this possibility, they can’t enroll their secured debt in the program. If it successfully settles a debt, Accredited Debt Relief charges a fee of 15% to 25% of the amount of settled debt. However, it says it usually charges 25%. You’ll also be charged these fees for the associated savings account: You can also opt in to services from Better Life Plans, a legal service provider that can assist with any legal documentation you may receive. This optional fee is $14.95 per month. On average, Accredited Debt Relief says that its clients repay 55% of their enrolled debt. However, this amount doesn’t account for Accredited Debt Relief’s fees, which are usually 25% of the settled debt amount. Accredited Debt Relief says that its clients may become debt-free within 24 to 48 months. The exact timeline will depend on how much debt you owe and your financial situation. If you borrow a debt consolidation loan from one of Accredited Debt Relief’s affiliates, you can choose repayment terms from four to 84 months. Along with its debt resolution program, Accredited Debt Relief also offers consolidation loans to qualifying clients. These loans range from $1,000 to $100,000, and APRs can get pretty steep. They also come with origination fees from 1% to 6%. Loan repayment terms range from four months to seven years. To be eligible for one of these consolidation loans, you must have worked with Accredited Debt Relief in a debt settlement program for at least nine months, with on-time payments for at least six months. Your account must also be in good standing. You can track your progress toward debt resolution on the Beyond Finance app or website, or you can call Accredited Debt Relief directly with questions or concerns. Accredited Debt Relief has excellent reviews on two consumer review sites. Accredited Debt Relief often charges high fees at the upper end of its range, so it’s worth exploring your other options and relative costs before deciding on a debt settlement company. Debt settlement may or may not be worth it, depending on your situation. Debt settlement has the potential to let you pay off your debts for less than you owe. Debt settlement companies can communicate with creditors on your behalf, so you don’t have to deal with the negotiation process. This kind of help can be a relief when dealing with unmanageable debt. However, debt settlement companies can charge hefty fees that add to your financial burden. It’s likely that your credit will be severely damaged since you’ll need to stop paying off any debts included in the program. But, since companies only charge settlement fees after successfully negotiating a debt, the fees and credit damage may be worth the cost. It may be worth considering DIY debt settlement to avoid the company fees. There’s no guarantee that a debt settlement company will be able to settle your debts for significantly less than you owe. There’s a chance that you could wind up in more debt, and potentially facing lawsuits, if settlement negotiations fail. Before deciding on debt settlement, speak with a trained credit counselor and consider other options, like debt management plans and bankruptcy. Yes, debt settlement for an amount of $600 or more is typically treated as taxable income. The amount you owe will depend on your tax bracket and filing status, and any tax credits and deductions you qualify for. Accredited Debt Relief could be a good fit for your needs if you’re struggling to manage your debt. According to the company, its clients end up paying back an average of 55% of their enrolled debt amount. However, the company’s fee will likely be 25% of your settled debt amount, which could cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Before enrolling in an Accredited Debt Relief program, take advantage of its free consultation call to get answers to all your questions about fees, debt payoff timelines, and other details of its program. Yes, like with other debt settlement companies, you must usually close any credit cards enrolled in a program with Accredited Debt Relief. You may be able to omit a credit card from the program for emergencies, but the company will not work to settle any debt on that card. No, Accredited Debt Relief does not help resolve tax debt. If you need this service, take a look at CuraDebt's debt settlement services. CuraDebt is our top-rated debt relief company for tax debt relief. Yes, Accredited Debt Relief is a legitimate debt relief company. It’s been in business for more than a decade, it’s accredited by the AADR and certified by the IAPDA, and it has overwhelmingly positive reviews from past clients. When you begin a debt settlement program with Accredited Debt Relief, you’ll need to pay for the savings account that will hold your settlement fund: a one-time set-up fee of $9.95, and a monthly maintenance fee of $10.75. Then, if Accredited Debt Relief is successful in settling your debt, it charges a fee of 15% to 25% of the settled debt, which is on par with the typical debt settlement cost. The company says most clients end up paying 25%. This fee will be charged as part of your monthly payment as you go through the program. Using Accredited Debt Relief or any other debt settlement service is likely to hurt your credit score, which the company clearly states on its website. Debt settlement generally requires that you stop making payments on your debt, which will adversely affect your payment history and therefore your credit score. It may take several years to come back from this negative impact. According to customer reviews and third-party accreditations, Accredited Debt Relief seems to be a reliable company within the debt relief industry. It receives largely positive reviews from thousands of customers on trusted consumer review sites like Trustpilot and the BBB. According to Accredited Debt Relief, the average client who completes a debt settlement program ends up paying back 55% of their debt, although this is before the company’s fee, which is usually 25% of the settled debt. To determine the best debt relief companies, we reviewed various databases, competitive analyses, consumer behavior, and more, ultimately narrowing down the list to 40 companies that offered debt settlement and/or credit counseling services. We developed a quantitative model in which we identified 53 important criteria across five categories. We weighted each category as follows for this article: We then gathered data for the 53 criteria directly from companies via websites, media contacts, and existing partnerships. Data was collected between Oct. 19, 2023, and Dec. 18, 2023. This resulted in over 2,000 data points in our rubric, which we used to score and determine the best debt relief companies (including debt settlement and credit counseling services) for people looking to manage and get out of debt. To learn more about our process for finding the best debt relief companies, read our full methodology. Article Sources Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy. Better Business Bureau. “Accredited Debt Relief.” Trustpilot. “Accredited Debt Relief.” AADR. “What Accreditation Means.” IAPDA. “FAQ.” CDRI. “About CDRI.” BBB. “Accreditation Standards.” myFICO. “What's in My FICO® Scores?” Internal Revenue Service. “Canceled Debt – Is It Taxable or Not?”:fill(white):max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/AccreditedDebtRelief-8499d92a869349d19554ce03ce53c48e.jpg "Accredited Debt Relief Review 2024 (1)")
Pros and Cons Explained
Pros
Cons
How Accredited Debt Relief Works
Accreditations
How to Enroll With Accredited Debt Relief
Types of Debt Addressed
Credit Card Debt
Store Credit Card Debt
Unsecured Personal Loan Debt
Medical Debt
Secured Debt
Expected Cost
Expected Relief Amount
Expected Time to Complete the Program
Additional Services
Client Dashboard
Customer Service
Method Contact Availability Telephone (800) 282-7186 (general inquiries) (800) 497-1965 (current clients) Weekdays: 8 a.m.–11 p.m. ET
Weekends: 8 a.m.–10 p.m. ETEmail [email protected] Weekdays: 8 a.m.–11 p.m. ET
Weekends: 8 a.m.–10 p.m. ETLive Chat Beyond Finance website Not disclosed Mailing Address P.O. Box 660442
Dallas, TX 75266-0442N/A Customer Satisfaction and Reviews
Accredited Debt Relief vs. National Debt Relief vs. Freedom Debt Relief
Accredited Debt Relief National Debt Relief Freedom Debt Relief Services Offered Debt settlement, debt consolidation loans Debt settlement, debt consolidation loans Debt settlement, debt consolidation loans Debt Settlement Fee 15%–25% of settled debt 15%–25% of settled debt 15%–25% of initial debt Minimum Debt Required $10,000 $7,500 $7,500 Maximum Debt Allowed No maximum limit No maximum limit No maximum limit Accreditations AADR, IAPDA, CDRI, BBB AADR, IAPDA, BBB AADR, IAPDA, FHN, BBB Year Established 2001 2009 2002 Is Debt Settlement Worth It?
Is Debt Relief Through Debt Settlement Taxable?
The Bottom Line
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do You Have to Close Your Credit Cards With Accredited Debt Relief?
Does Accredited Debt Relief Work With Tax Debt?
Is Accredited Debt Relief a Legitimate Company?
How Much Does Accredited Debt Relief Cost?
Does Accredited Debt Relief Hurt Your Credit Score?
How Reliable Is Accredited Debt Relief?
How We Determine the Best Debt Relief Companies
Best Debt Relief Companies for September 2024 How Much Does Debt Relief Cost? How to Get Debt Relief in 2024 Best Credit Repair Companies for September 2024 How To Get Out of Debt in 8 Steps CreditRepair.com Credit Repair Review
FAQs
Is the 2024 debt relief Program legit? ›
National Debt Relief is a legitimate debt settlement company founded in 2009. It's accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) with an A+ rating and holds an accreditation from the American Association for Debt Resolution (AADR).
Does accredited debt relief actually work? ›Debt relief can take some time so results can vary, but many clients see significant debt reduction within 24-48 months of working with Accredited Debt Relief.
Is there really a debt relief program from the government? ›There aren't any free government debt relief programs for credit card or personal loan debt other than bankruptcy. Many types of government debt relief exist in the form of grants and low-interest loans for specific purposes.
Is it a good idea to use a debt relief program? ›Accredited Debt Relief is a good option if you need to clear your debt quickly: It boasts clients who complete their payment program can be debt-free in as few as 12 months, half as long as some competitors.
What is the disadvantage of debt relief program? ›Debt settlement cons
Debt settlement companies can charge fees. The creditor may require you to close the account, which will result in losing access to that credit line. The amount of forgiven debt may be considered taxable income by the IRS, so there may be tax implications.
The bottom line. While credit card debt forgiveness can offer a path out of overwhelming debt, it's not without its drawbacks. The impact on your credit score can be significant, potentially affecting your ability to obtain credit, secure favorable interest rates or even rent a home in the near future.
Does the government give out $9000 dollar grants? ›The government does not offer free money or grants to people for personal needs.
Is debt settlement really worth it? ›If you're behind on your credit card payments and looking for a solution, you might be considering debt settlement, which promises to help clear your debts. However, debt settlement is risky and should be a last resort for most borrowers.
Can I still use my credit card after debt settlement? ›Creditors don't want you to use the cards when you're having a benefit from a debt management program. But if there's a card that you can keep out of the program, you can do that. You can keep the card out and use it for emergencies.
Is the credit card debt relief program legit? ›When it comes to credit card debt relief, it's important to dispel a common misconception: There are no government-sponsored programs specifically designed to eliminate credit card debt. So, you should be wary of any offers claiming to represent such government initiatives, as they may be misleading or fraudulent.
How do I know if a debt relief company is legit? ›
They Ask for Fees Upfront
This is the most obvious sign of a debt relief scam. If the person/company offers to help get rid of your debt but first you have to pay them a fee, they're probably lying to you. Cut off contact and file a complaint with us.
Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO credit score, so enrolling in a plan with National Debt Relief could negatively impact your credit rating. The extent of that impact, however, depends on whether you're still current on your bills or not.
Has anyone been approved for debt relief? ›The Biden-Harris Administration has approved the following debt relief for borrowers: $69.2 billion for 946,000 borrowers through fixes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). $51 billion for more than 1 million borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR payment counts.