Harassed by your creditors?
I am really stressed by constant calls and letters from the lenders about my accounts.
The first thing we should identify is whether these calls and letters constitute ‘harassment’ or are in fact a reasonable attempt to make contact to discuss your situation.
Clearly any creditor (the person or business to whom you owe the money) is perfectly entitled to try to discuss with you the reasons why you have not maintained the repayment programme you agreed with them when borrowing the funds in the first place. Of course the greater the time when no payments have been made, the more concerned a lender will become that their money is ‘at risk’, and they will want to ensure that they have made every effort to obtain repayment.
So, the question is: What is reasonable in such circumstances?
At National Money, a number of our clients have reported that they have endured up to 20 phone calls per day from their creditors, plus letters which are ever more threatening in nature; quite a few have received calls after 8pm during the week and on Sundays. Whilst creditors are entitled to contact you to discuss the position, many right thinking people may take the view that so many calls, late into the night and at weekends might go beyond what is reasonable.
Discuss your situation with the lender
The first way of avoiding such hassle is to grasp the nettle and contact the lender to discuss your money problems. Like you, they are human (honestly!) and will try to understand your situation, with allowance taken in payment arrangements, albeit that these are likely to be only temporary. In many cases you will find that this will deal with the problem and the calls will stop, provided you stick to the arrangements you have agreed with the lender.
In discussing any changes to the original repayment agreement, the lender will want to see a detailed budget which sets out all of your income and essential living costs. In addition they will need to know information about all of your debts – both Priority and Non Priority – and an offer of payment that you can afford, so that they can understand fully your financial situation.
Unfortunately there are occasions when the lenders are not prepared to agree reduced payment arrangements or indeed ‘payment holidays’, because the situation has gone on for too long, or the offer you are making to them is not considered sufficient following their assessment of your budget.
What if I can’t get them to listen?
Many people find dealing with their creditors, particularly when times get tough, extremely stressful. Many creditors adopt the stance of ‘who shouts loudest gets the most’, and therefore it is very difficult to balance the amount of money you might have available after covering your essential living costs so that all the creditors receive what they might feel is a reasonable figure.
The average number of unsecured debts per borrower with money problems is 7, and some of our clients have many more than this. It is very difficult to juggle your budget to ensure that each receives the agreed payment on the due date, with creditors likely to insist upon a payment each month at probably the most inconvenient time for you!
In such circumstances you should seek the assistance of an ethical, experienced third party such as National Money who has years of experience of liaising with creditors on behalf of our clients. The directors used to be creditors themselves, with over 50 years of lender careers between them, and maintain good relationships with the lending industry for the benefit of the client.
Our team of experts have assisted thousands of people to deal with their money problems through help with general budgeting, formulation of detailed proposals for payment offers, and management of debt solutions.
National Money, through their relationships with creditors, and realistic payment proposals which benefit both the client and the creditors, has a great record of success when it comes to lifting the pressure from our clients. Depending upon the right solution put forward for your specific circumstances, the calls and letters from creditors should cease almost immediately and you can get on with the rest of your life, leaving us to manage your payments.
Don’t just take our word for this – check out what our clients say !
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