Debt Collection Help and Tips for Dealing with Creditors
Some tips and general advice on debt collection
If you are ever contacted by a debt collection help organisation, be sure to verify that they are licensed by the office of fair trading. With over 20,000 agencies and bailiffs specialised in UK debt collection, you are may end up having to deal with one of the more aggressive firms out there. These collection firms collect the debts of both private and public companies, so do your homework before dealing with them.
The principles that drove companies offering debt collection services, in a perfect world, would be fair, fast and professionally undertaken debt collection. However, more and more aggressive debt collection practices have led to the emergences of a greater number of complaints and general reports of bad practice in debt collection by consumers. Fortunately, there are decent firms out there who have signed up to “The Better Payment Practice Code” in order to provide genuine debt collection help that isn’t unethical.
To promote a better debt collection help practice within the UK, the Better Payment Practice Group was established. They work to urge all debt collection help firms to take on a responsible attitude when it comes to debtors paying in a timely matter. The Group allows debt collection help companies to sign up to the Better Payment Practice code and agree to maintain the four cornerstones of timely payment:
1. Agreeing to debt collection payment terms at the outset of a deal and sticking to them
2. Explaining debt collection payment procedures to suppliers in an effort to help them, as well
3. Paying bills in accordance with any contract agreed to by the supplier or required by the debt collection laws
4. Notifying suppliers immediately when an invoice is contested while helping to settle debt collection disputes quickly
Here are Some Options for Those in Need of Debt Collection Help
The IVA (Individual Voluntary Agreement)
An IVA is an effective and potent tool which enables to you not only clear your debt, but also to return to a clean financial balance on your accounts once again.
Bankruptcy
Considered an option that must be addressed once a person can no longer pay their debts as they fall due, bankruptcy genrerally allows a first time bankrupt to received their discharge a year after the bankruptcy order’s date.
Debt Management Plan
For those struggling to pay loans, store cards, catalogues or credit cards who want someone to help with sorting out payments and talking to credit cards, a Debt Management Plan may be the perfect solution. If a debtor can pay a single payment that they can afford towards all creditors then this can be an excellent way to cut that debt down over time.
Debt Consolidation Loans
You can consolidate your debt and reduce your payments each month by up to 50% with a proper debt consolidation loan.
Scotland Trust Deeds
For residents of Scotland who are in debt of £8,000 or more, a trust deed (also known as a protected trust deed) offers a legally binding debt repayment agreement. These trust deeds are only available to those residing in Scotland and last a maximum of 3 years. After this, the rest of the debt is written off and you are entirely debt free.
Tips for Dealing with Harassment from Creditors:
* Firstly, write to your creditor and in your communication, outline what you find offensive about the way the company is treating you. Let them know that you are familiar with the terms of the Administration of Justice Act’s Section 40. Ask them to take steps to avoid a repeat of the offensive behaviours that have exhibited towards you.
* Let you creditors know how you prefer to be contacted and ask them to confirm that they are in agreement with your request. If you send the letter during this early stage, you may avoid the trouble of having to take further action against the debt collection help company.
* Inform the creditor that you will consider making a complaint about their tactics under the guidance of the OFT Debt Collect Help Guidance. While it can be difficult to convince the police to prosecute in harassment cases until a more serious offence such such as fraud, blackmail or violence is involved, you should definitely make a complaint about any debt collection to your local council’s trading standards / consumer protection department.
* Your local council should invetigate whether an offence has been committed and wether prosecution is the correct next step. There is a fine of up to £5,000 in the Magistrates Court is a penalty is enforced. Also, a conviction can provide evidence that the creditor should not hold a consumer credit license to carry out debt collection help because they would be deemed no longer a ‘fit and proper person’ for that role. It may be worth considering contacting the Office of Fair Trading directly if the Trading Standards department doesn’t end up acting. While the OFT usually doesn’t take up individual complaints, their Debt Collection Help Enforcement Team does collect information which can be used to take the consumer credit license from abusive creditors. You may also wish to find out if the creditor is a member of a trade association that has a code of practice. If you find out they are a member of such an association you could write there with your complaint.
Additional Options for Debt Collection Help
Perhaps a final straw alternative is pursuing your own prosecution of an unruly creditor in the Magistrates Court. This could be expensive so you need proper legal advice before you decide to do this. A newer service from BT called “Choose to Refuse” may help if you are getting a high volume of calls from a particularly unpleasant creditor. You will need a pin number to key in after they’ve called you. Then, the caller will hear an automated message that states you do not wish to take their call once they ring. The service cost £8.00 per quarter. If your telephone service is through another provider, ask them if they have a similar feature available to you.
The Malicious Communications Act 1988 could be used in your favor, you can refer to it as it deals with letter or articles being sent for the purpose of causing “distress or anxiety.”
If you choose to try for a penalty to the creditor from the Magistrates Court, and it is successful with the creditor being found guilty, they will be fined. You must present a letter or article that was sent to you which contains one or more of these things:
- An indecent or grossly offensive message
- A threat
- Information which is either known or believed to be false by its sender
It is a criminal offence to cause “Harassment, alarm or distress” with intent by utilizing “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” under the Criminal Justice Act and Public Order Act 1994 Section 4a. However, this only counts as an offence if the action takes place in a public place outside your home. In order to prosecute for this offence, the police need to be contacted immediately after.
It is a criminal offence to harass people and put “people in fear of violence” under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, also, but the harassment must happen on a minimum of 2 seperate occaisions and the police would need to agree to prosecute.
Some tips and general advice on debt collection
If you are ever contacted by a debt collection help organisation, be sure to verify that they are licensed by the office of fair trading. With over 20,000 agencies and bailiffs specialised in UK debt collection, you are may end up having to deal with one of the more aggressive firms out there. These collection firms collect the debts of both private and public companies, so do your homework before dealing with them.
The principles that drove companies offering debt collection services, in a perfect world, would be fair, fast and professionally undertaken debt collection. However, more and more aggressive debt collection practices have led to the emergences of a greater number of complaints and general reports of bad practice in debt collection by consumers. Fortunately, there are decent firms out there who have signed up to “The Better Payment Practice Code” in order to provide genuine debt collection help that isn’t unethical.
To promote a better debt collection help practice within the UK, the Better Payment Practice Group was established. They work to urge all debt collection help firms to take on a responsible attitude when it comes to debtors paying in a timely matter. The Group allows debt collection help companies to sign up to the Better Payment Practice code and agree to maintain the four cornerstones of timely payment:
1. Agreeing to debt collection payment terms at the outset of a deal and sticking to them
2. Explaining debt collection payment procedures to suppliers in an effort to help them, as well
3. Paying bills in accordance with any contract agreed to by the supplier or required by the debt collection laws
4. Notifying suppliers immediately when an invoice is contested while helping to settle debt collection disputes quickly
Here are Some Options for Those in Need of Debt Collection Help
The IVA (Individual Voluntary Agreement)
An IVA is an effective and potent tool which enables to you not only clear your debt, but also to return to a clean financial balance on your accounts once again.
Bankruptcy
Considered an option that must be addressed once a person can no longer pay their debts as they fall due, bankruptcy genrerally allows a first time bankrupt to received their discharge a year after the bankruptcy order’s date.
Debt Management Plan
For those struggling to pay loans, store cards, catalogues or credit cards who want someone to help with sorting out payments and talking to credit cards, a Debt Management Plan may be the perfect solution. If a debtor can pay a single payment that they can afford towards all creditors then this can be an excellent way to cut that debt down over time.
Debt Consolidation Loans
You can consolidate your debt and reduce your payments each month by up to 50% with a proper debt consolidation loan.
Scotland Trust Deeds
For residents of Scotland who are in debt of £8,000 or more, a trust deed (also known as a protected trust deed) offers a legally binding debt repayment agreement. These trust deeds are only available to those residing in Scotland and last a maximum of 3 years. After this, the rest of the debt is written off and you are entirely debt free.
Tips for Dealing with Harassment from Creditors:
* Firstly, write to your creditor and in your communication, outline what you find offensive about the way the company is treating you. Let them know that you are familiar with the terms of the Administration of Justice Act’s Section 40. Ask them to take steps to avoid a repeat of the offensive behaviours that have exhibited towards you.
* Let you creditors know how you prefer to be contacted and ask them to confirm that they are in agreement with your request. If you send the letter during this early stage, you may avoid the trouble of having to take further action against the debt collection help company.
* Inform the creditor that you will consider making a complaint about their tactics under the guidance of the OFT Debt Collect Help Guidance. While it can be difficult to convince the police to prosecute in harassment cases until a more serious offence such such as fraud, blackmail or violence is involved, you should definitely make a complaint about any debt collection to your local council’s trading standards / consumer protection department.
* Your local council should invetigate whether an offence has been committed and wether prosecution is the correct next step. There is a fine of up to £5,000 in the Magistrates Court is a penalty is enforced. Also, a conviction can provide evidence that the creditor should not hold a consumer credit license to carry out debt collection help because they would be deemed no longer a ‘fit and proper person’ for that role. It may be worth considering contacting the Office of Fair Trading directly if the Trading Standards department doesn’t end up acting. While the OFT usually doesn’t take up individual complaints, their Debt Collection Help Enforcement Team does collect information which can be used to take the consumer credit license from abusive creditors. You may also wish to find out if the creditor is a member of a trade association that has a code of practice. If you find out they are a member of such an association you could write there with your complaint.
Additional Options for Debt Collection Help
Perhaps a final straw alternative is pursuing your own prosecution of an unruly creditor in the Magistrates Court. This could be expensive so you need proper legal advice before you decide to do this. A newer service from BT called “Choose to Refuse” may help if you are getting a high volume of calls from a particularly unpleasant creditor. You will need a pin number to key in after they’ve called you. Then, the caller will hear an automated message that states you do not wish to take their call once they ring. The service cost £8.00 per quarter. If your telephone service is through another provider, ask them if they have a similar feature available to you.
The Malicious Communications Act 1988 could be used in your favor, you can refer to it as it deals with letter or articles being sent for the purpose of causing “distress or anxiety.”
If you choose to try for a penalty to the creditor from the Magistrates Court, and it is successful with the creditor being found guilty, they will be fined. You must present a letter or article that was sent to you which contains one or more of these things:
- An indecent or grossly offensive message
- A threat
- Information which is either known or believed to be false by its sender
It is a criminal offence to cause “Harassment, alarm or distress” with intent by utilizing “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” under the Criminal Justice Act and Public Order Act 1994 Section 4a. However, this only counts as an offence if the action takes place in a public place outside your home. In order to prosecute for this offence, the police need to be contacted immediately after.
It is a criminal offence to harass people and put “people in fear of violence” under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, also, but the harassment must happen on a minimum of 2 seperate occaisions and the police would need to agree to prosecute.
Credit cards for bad credit generally fall into two categories. The first is a credit card that has a maximum limit to the amount you can charge.The second of the credit cards for bad credit is the secured credit card. These credit cards involve the consumer making a small deposit onto the credit card in order to use it. Some cards will increase your spending limit if good spending practices occur while others you can simply only spend what you put onto the card. Either way it is a great way to be responsible with your money and start rebuilding your credit.