The Following Article Is A Guest Post. If you’re interested in submitting a guest post please contact me.

Debt collector worries? Don’t panic. Inform yourself.

No-one wants a debt collector at the door – but if it’s going to happen, there’s no point trying to ignore it. When you’re faced with debt problems of any kind, facing up to them is important.

To do that, of course, you’ll need to know where you stand. You might find the following tips useful – they’re supplied by debt management company Gregory Pennington.

What can’t debt collectors do?

Like anyone else, debt collectors have to follow the rules when they’re doing their job. In fact, there are strict rules about debt collection: the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published specific ‘debt collection’ guidance that applies to ‘all businesses engaged in the recovery of consumer credit debts’.

The guidance gives examples of the kind of methods that the OFT considers ‘unfair or improper’. The OFT has the power to revoke a company’s credit licence if it doesn’t think they’re fit to hold one, so debt collectors take this seriously.

For instance, they’re not allowed to:

• Send you documents designed to look like official court documents.
• Present information in a way that exploits your lack of knowledge.
• Use things like Latin phrases or technical / legal language in their communications.
• Ignore any reasonable requests you make – like asking them not to contact you at certain times if you’re a shift worker.
• Tell you that they can take action (like trying to make you bankrupt, for example) when they know that’s not actually an option.
• Pressure you into borrowing more money or selling your property.
• Pressure you into paying more than you can afford without ‘experiencing undue difficulty’.
• Send you postcards or leave you answerphone messages that could let someone else find out that you’re dealing with a debt recovery business.

So that’s the kind of thing they aren’t allowed to do. To find out what you should do, check out the ‘When the debt collector calls’ fact sheet from Gregory Pennington.

Why Not Follow Us On Twitter @MoneyBulldogUK or Like Us On Facebook!