Debt compare and ClearStart are the same business. They are a chartered accountant firm and do not have any license for debt counselling or debt adjustment services. They get around this by offering accountancy services. They will calculate a pro rata amount and make you pay £40 or more a month as well as the payments you make to creditors yourself, for them to do no continued work. If you need debt advice, there are plenty of charities. If you want a direct service where everything is done for you (which you will have a pay, but don't lift a finger) you can search for Debt Management companies. Make sure to check out their credentials on the FCA website and make sure they are licensed fully to deal with your accounts before agreeing to anything. This company technically is not breaking the law, but they are charging for doing the arrangements and the plan yourself. The ombudsman has indicated previously that it has plans to investigate firms like these.

Not sure why the guy below has put all that, i knew i was paying the creditors directly. they helped me with my gas and electrcity as well. Good company and helped me with my expenses

Everything they do is a scam. They were originally named Debt Compare Ltd who were posing as Stepchange and fooled many vulnerable people into signing up to their service. They moved the debt management service to a newly created company (Clear Start Accountants) in early 2020. I see Clear Start was only registered in late 2019 and are registered in the SAME building but different floors. Sound suspicious? At first, they talk to you like you are the most important person in the world and that you don't need to worry as they will take care of everything and help you get back on your feet. Well let's face it, anyone using this serice is already vulnerable straight off the bat so this is their motivation to trick you into getting more money out of you. They take your details and create a payment plan leading you to believe that this payment plan is PAYING YOUR DEBT OFF to the creditors. This is NOT what happens. They take the money then let your creditors chase you for weeks or months (which they tell you to ignore all calls and correspondence) before they eventually tell you that YOU are supposed to pay the creditors directly. So they act like they are being helpful by getting sending you details of the creditors and what you need to pay them each month. After over a year with them I found they took over 1k in fees which was more than I was paying back to creditors so I'm WORSE off than I was. They are DANGEROUS vultures who prey on vulnerable victims for their own selfish gain. They should not be allowed to get away with it. PLEASE LISTEN and ignore the blatant bot/fake posts they use to boost their score. You can tell this is real and genuine but the 5* reviews are clearly not. AVOID. Also going to post this in Debt Compare Ltd and I don't care if it's a duplicate as it's the same company. Anyone who reaches out to these companies are in dire straights and in need of help. These people DO NOT CARE. They just want your money and they need to be stopped. Any real people reading this and is unaware. Check your history and work out how much of your money goes to these charlatans vs how much goes towards paying off your debts. They charge EXTORTIONATE amounts and all the suff they actually do, YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF FOR FREE! Speak up people, they need to be stopped. If you think they are helpful you are being fooled just like I was and many others will follow if we don't help them. Remember, they don't give a hoot about you or your circumstances. They want to extort as much money out of you as they can and bamboozle you into thinking they are helping you. They need to be shut down and very soon before they cause people more hurt and anger. Remember, Ignore the fake generic reviews they use to boost their TP profile!

Complete Scam. Took somewhere in the region of £600 from me and handed my account over to Clear Start. Clear Start did nothing for 1 year despite my hundreds of phone calls to them. Now Clear start has phoned me up asking for a cancellation fee. What a great scam. Funny that both companies work in the same building. Owners probably go out for cocktails after work laughing together about how many people they have scammed. Stay away

I thought this company will help me to sort out all my debt?At first they are very friendly and telling you that they will help. They ask how much you can afford monthly payment. They ask me to pay £466.80 just to start then after that just £40 each month. They took my money then they told me that they are on processing all my debt and will be in place in time. Then the following month the took £389 for 4 consecutive month and keep telling me that they are still sorting my debts and tried to contact all the creditors. At first, I said to myself okay I don't mind if they took £389 on my bank account as long as that money i paid will distributed to all my creditors. They after 5 months of dealing with them, they rang me and told me that they finally sort out everything. I was happy and started paying £40 a month them as. Then I realised just after 5 months of paying with them ad asking myself what they do with the £389 that I'm paying for 4 months?Because that time they haven't sort out all my creditors!! And I rang them and ask them how about my money that i paid from the start which is £466.80 plus £1,556 thats the £389÷4 that they took for 4 months. And they just told me that "oh, that payment that we took is just the processing that we are doing by sorting out your debt and bla bla bla....i was so shocked!!! I am already in debt and they are making me more in debt!!! O feel sorry for myself because i was a victim and they took advantage, specially people who really need help and vulnerable. All they care is there bussiness...i really regret that i didnt look for somewhere who can genuinely help people like me who are in debt.!!

I was drowning beneath my ever-increasing bills and in a fit of desperation, I searched online for some help with debt management. Alas, I cannot remember the exact details of how it came about that I was referred to Debt Compare, but I had left my details for someone to contact me on the site of a reputable debt management organisation (though I cannot remember which). I received a phone call purporting to be from that organisation, and they said that they were unable to help me and asked whether it would be alright for them to pass on my details to Debt Compare. Being utterly naïve and desperate, I said that was fine. Gill Brooks from Debt Compare called me and reassured me, made me feel as though I could trust her to get my debts in hand. I was advised to stop all payments to my creditors, to close my bank account, to ignore all letters or phone calls from creditors and that Debt Compare would organise a payment plan with each of my four creditors. For this privilege, I was charged £289.20 for three consecutive months and thereafter, a retainer fee of £40 per month. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that everything was in hand, until I realised how wrong I was to put my trust in them. One day, I received a call from one of the Debt Compare associates; he was trying to speak to my bank to organise the monthly payment (which by the way, you pay yourself – you do not pay Debt Compare who then pay your creditor….you keep paying your creditors yourself). My bank would not speak to the associate at Debt Compare, stating that they were not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. By now, my anxiety levels were through the roof because I was having to join a three way conversation in order to grant Debt Compare authority to speak on my behalf, though bizarrely I soon realised that my own ineptitude at dealing with this kind of thing was nothing in comparison to the ineptitude of the Debt Compare associate. I ended up having to take control of the conversation to quell the conflict that seemed to be growing between the Debt Compare associate and bank representative. After pouring oil on the troubled waters, I finally understood what was being talked about and an agreement was met. By this point, the Debt Compare associate was silent, and the conversation was purely between myself and my bank. Once the conversation ended with the bank, the Debt Compare associate confirmed with me that I was happy with what had been organised and duly hung up. Debt Compare would periodically send out information regarding the payments that I needed to make to my creditors (including bank account and reference numbers). I was surprised to find that there was a bank account number that was not valid, so I called Debt Compare for clarity. This is when I truly began to understand the gravity of my error because they were none the wiser. It was at that point that I realised that I had to take control of my own debts – hindsight is a wonderful thing. By this point, I had paid Debt Compare the princely sum of £1,067.60 and they had done NOTHING to ease my debt. In fact, they had worsened it because by then, I was in default with all of my creditors and a grand out of pocket (not to mention the fact that in December, Debt Compare demanded their £40 retainer fee early due to Christmas holidays, but then took a second payment a week later). As I said, hindsight is a wonderful thing, because had I realised that all I needed to do was to pick up the phone to each of my four creditors and explain my situation to them, they are trained to deal with situations like this and I would have been able to clear £1,067.60 of my existing debt rather than squander it on a service that gave me NOTHING in return. Please don’t be fooled by the comments about how helpful Abdul and Shaz may be – they are nothing more than puppets. I do not understand how this company is still trading. I managed to end my ‘contract’ with them…….I think by the time I plucked up the courage to phone them to sever ties, they realised just how angry and determined I was to leave and I was able to leave without incurring additional fees. I have learnt a costly lesson – if you want something done right, do it yourself. If you want a trustworthy service, do it yourself. If you have anxiety or are scared, just tell your creditor what is happening and why, and they will help. But above all, I implore you to not believe the bull**** that these charlatans promise. It is 09/02/2021 - yesterday I received a call from someone called Jacobs Enforcement Agency (telephone number 0151 5284128). They were able to tell me my name, date of birth, home address and they had details of my creditors. They claimed my balance was due in full. THIS IS A SCAM and it can only have originated from Debt Compare selling my details to third parties. Debt Compare should be avoided at all costs

I was with debt compare. They now changed me over to clearstart accounts. Debt compare have taken god knows how much of my money. £40 a month but started off as £140 odd and then £90ish. They to my knowledge contacted 3 companies. And told me how much to set payments up with when I have done this that's extra on top of there payments. I still get constant reminders of letters from my bank and other companies as they have not done anything about them! Which they were ment to do. I currently pay maybe 20 quid a month in total split between 3 companies and I payed them 40 a month for them to just do that and not the rest. Because they havent set the rest of them up and now palmed me to another company! Debt compare have had in total £760.80 from me. For them to do not very much at all!! That money would have completely paid those 3 companies that They did actually set up! And I'd have some left over also! Completely unfair! Massive con! Sound very convincing over the phone but realistically these companies will put you in more debt

Abdul C was easy to speak to and was very helpful.

After reading amazing reviews I thought I’d go to debt compare to help with paying off some of my debts. After 5 month of solely paying debt compare which added up to £725, they had organised nothing that was discussed on the phone and when questioned I was then referred to another accountancy firm! Yes the customer service team are friendly but please STAY AWAY FROM DEBT COMPRE they will take your money and leave you in a far worse situation than you started in. They feed you false promises! The money I paid debt compare I could’ve paid off a chunk of my debts. Majorly disappointed

Super friendly, super helpful I spoke to Abdul C and everything was sorted super quick.