Harassment is unfair, unhelpful and moreover highly illegal.

Creditor And Debt Collector Harassment

Many people with debt problems suffer harassment from their creditors or other bodies they owe money to. Harassment is unfair, unhelpful and moreover highly illegal.

What defines harassment?

In this context, the most appropriate definition of harassment can be found in Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970. See a legally worded definition of harassment.

In simple terms, this explains a creditor may not coerce someone to repay a debt in a manner which is intended to "alarm, distress or humiliate". This includes the frequency of contact (e.g. repeated phone calls) or any breach of privacy (e.g. ringing a debtor at their place of work and informing others of the nature of the call).

False Representation

All a creditor can do is ask you to pay money. They have no further powers. A debt collector or persons working in the debt collections department of a finance company are not allowed to state or imply they have legal power to enforce payment. They are not bailiffs. A bailiff can only be involved to enforce a court order. If a debt collector visits your home, they can't force entry; you don't even need to speak to them, other than to show some politeness in asking them to leave. For debt collectors to impersonate directly, or by implication the Police, a court official or a bailiff is an offense.

If this has happened to you, then your local trading standard office would like you hear about it. If you've been threatened with violence, or are scared - call the Police.

OFT Debt Collection Practice Guidance
Although the guidance is entitled 'debt collection guidance', it sets out what the OFT expects of all those engaged in the pursuance of consumer credit related debts.
View Guidance Document (.pdf)

Dealing with Harassment

Firstly, double check your own records and make sure this matches what you are being told by the creditor or their agent. The creditor will know you're likely to have other debts and the companies will be trying to extract payment in similar fashion, so the most aggressive gets paid at the expense of the others. The agent or debt collector will be paid commission on what they manage to recover.

Don't Lie

The calling agent will be looking to tick a box on their screen indicating that contact with the account holder has been made  therefore repeatedly saying the person is not there, when in fact they are is not helpful. Also, don't make promises you can't keep, just to appease them. This could make court action more likely and weaken your position when you want to seriously negotiate something you intend sticking to.

Token payments

It's better to make an offer of token payments, no matter how small, than to just say you can't pay. This shows good faith on your part while you work out a longer term solution and may lower you down the list of clients the creditor calls. Once you're certain of the facts and have clearly stated your position, there is no need for repeated contact on a daily basis. Keep your cool and be polite.

Simple stating to creditor that you can't pay will not stop the calls. You need to keep a log of creditor contact and if the situation persists report them. No one should have to suffer from harassment, but if you find yourself getting this type of unwelcome attention, the only realistic way out is to agree a repayment schedule which is affordable to you and acceptable to them. This should be based on what you can afford taking into account all your other financial commitments. Drawing up a financial statement, making repayment offers to creditors and dealing with all correspondence is part of initial service our debt management clients receive.

How Harrington Brooks Deals With Harassment

If a client of ours is harassed in any way, it a dealt with buy our credit liaison department. We have a good relationship with most creditors and would firstly deal with the matter over the phone or by email. If harassment continues, a letter is sent to the offending party outlining the facts and if necessary, a copy can be sent to the creditor's local trading standards office. We advise clients to forward letters to ourselves and to respond to any phones politely simple stating Harrington Brooks are dealing with their affairs and to direct any correspondence to them while the matter is being clarified.