Deborah Southon, director of Fox Symes, acknowledges there are no major competitors left in debt administration and it is hard for new entrants to come in; but consumers are bypassing formal debt agreements altogether with their life-long insolvency implications.The marketing of Part IX debt agreements as pseudo debt consolidation instruments has been consistently criticised by consumer advocates and financial counsellors for many years, but they consistently deliver for creditors who have largely come to support them following the 2007 reforms.But apart from Fox Symes, which is successfully expanding from reliance on debt agreement fees to become a mortgage lender and broker, no one wants to be a debt agreement administrator anymore. The entry costs are prohibitive and the new fee structure is a potentially unreliable revenue stream for an unwary or inexperienced operator. "You would need to have cash I would have thought, to support your business for a time if you were entering this now," said Southon. "The new fees have made it difficult for new people in this business."But competitors are increasingly creating "informal or de-facto debt agreements" said Southon, that leave debtors with no rights. Competitors include such as www.nobankruptcy.com.au  and www.mybudget.com.au as well as minor start-ups such as www.creditplanb.com.au.  "There are a number of operations negotiating de facto debt agreements with creditors but there is nothing there to bind creditors to the agreement," Southon said. "A debt agreement is binding on creditors as well and provides debtors with certainty."Some people criticise formal debt agreements but they bind creditors as well to a deal and give debtors rights and let debtors move on."No Bankruptcy's Christian Oey is a critic of Part IX agreements. He said: "There is no reason why heavily indebted consumers should sign a debt agreement. They are an act of bankruptcy that stays with you forever."Sometimes we have to be persistent and patient but we generally get to talk to decision makers at the creditors and do a deal that doesn't involve a debt agreement - that is good for everyone. Often people don't understand what the full consequences of a debt agreement are."The high-profile Adelaide-based MyBudget is probably the closest Fox Symes has to a serious competitor currently. It deals in both formal and informal debt agreements.MyBudget is a privately owned company that now boasts 70 staff and 6,000 clients in south-eastern states. Owner Tammy May is a regular on radio and daytime TV, where this industry targets much of its marketing.Southon says consumers should be aware that informal or de-facto debt agreements do not prevent creditors from taking action in the future."Informal debt agreements are a problem. A similar trend is emerging in the UK," said Southon. "There are some notorious small operators in this area."