How We Rank

Income Disclosure

Companies listed on BestDebtCompanys.com cannot buy their position and we do not implement a ‘pay-to-play’ ranking strategy like many review sites do — this ensures unbiased rankings.

As a part of our service, we do attempt to partner with the companies that we review and may be compensated when you click or call them from our website. Our rankings may change depending on company quality, customer sentiment, and expert opinion of current company policies.

Each of our reviews, scores, and rankings are derived from an aggregate score of three different debt company review sites, customer score, and expert score — this was done to give our users an overall online sentiment of each debt company we review (overall score).

We don't have any relationships with companies that guarantee position, rank, or score… and we never will. Like many sites, we are compensated through affiliate relationships with each company we review; however, our averaged ranking system ensures we remain honest and unbiased.

Some review sites were given different weights than others, according to trustworthiness of the review sites themselves.

Additionally, company scores are also given small penalties or bonuses based on an expert analysis and customer sentiment of company quality.

For example, Freedom Debt was given an overall score of 9.8 as a result of the following rankings:

• Review Site 1 — 9.8
• Review Site 2 — 9.6
• Review Site 3 — 9.9
• Expert Review Score
• Customer Review Score

Each of the three review sites listed is trusted and attempts to rank each company fairly. Our aggregate score is meant to measure the overall performance of each company and the customer sentiment regarding the companies.

Every company receives customer reviews regarding the specific service they provide. BestDebtCompanys.com relies solely on the trusted and verified customer reviews found on BestCompany.com, a site that screens and verifies its customer reviews.

The companies we review on BestDebtCompanys.com are also given scores based on four criteria points that are chosen by our resident debt expert. Because the debt management industry is heavily regulated by the government, most criteria points are largely uniform, with some slight variations from lender to lender.

The criteria points are:

1. Price
2. Setup Fee
3. Accreditations
4. Min. Debt Requirement
5. Customer Rating

Prices will be different depending on the debt management method that each individual company prescribes to. For example, debt resolution companies will charge you a percentage of your total enrolled debt. This price is usually between 20% - 30% of your total debt ($2,000 price if your total debt is $10,000). This can be difficult to predict, since you really don't know how much the company will be able to save you (this is why a money-back guarantee is vital).

A good debt resolution company can cut your debt in half. So your original $10,000 debt is now just $5,000. Add the $2,000 fee and you'll be paying around $7,000 instead of the original $10,000, which is well worth it.

The other pricing difference will come with debt consolidation and debt management companies, who usually charge a monthly fee along with a setup/enrollment fee. This is usually around $50/mo with a ~$75 enrollment fee.

These fees usually only apply to debt consolidation companies, who work with you to arrange your debt strategy and will help setup your plan during the opening stages of the consolidation process.

Because the debt resolution industry deals directly with customers who are struggling financially, the industry is highly regulated. Therefore, it is very important that each debt resolution company is accredited by the industries top accreditations: AFCC and IAPDA.

The process of eliminating debt can be very difficult, especially in relation to debt resolution. For that reason, most debt companies will only work with customers who have a higher amount of debt. The best debt companies have a lower debt requirement (around $7,500), while some other companies have debt requirements nearer to $10,000.

The importance of customer ratings when choosing a debt company cannot be overstated — you should be looking to customer reviews before anything else when searching for a debt management company.