It feels like my creditors are harassing me, what are my rights?
It is often difficult to know what to do when you feel a creditor is not dealing with your account fairly. If you do not pay, your creditors are allowed to keep reminding you from time to time but they must not act illegally. Many activities could be classed as harassment but this is often difficult to prove. It is important to note that 'anything done by a person which is reasonable' when trying to recover a debt, is not considered to be harassment.
Guidelines have been put together by The Office Of Fair Trading giving guidance on what activities may be considered as harassment and should therefore be avoided by creditors.
Creditors are warned by the Office Of Fair Trading that they should not: -
- Bring unreasonable pressure to bear on you in default of payment
- Falsely claim that criminal proceedings can be brought for non-payment
- Falsely imply that they may legally seize property or take other action without going to Court
- Impersonate a Court or any other official person, by letter or by telephone
- Make nuisance visits and phone calls, or use abusive or threatening language in person, by letter or by telephone
- Leave messages for you to contact someone urgently with no explanation
- Contact you at work, or the customer's employer with intent to create embarrassment and create fear of dismissal
- Wait outside work on payday
- Park outside your door in a vehicle marked 'debt collectors'
- Call on the neighbours, pretending to believe the neighbour is you
- Send insufficiently addressed postcards
You cannot be prosecuted in the Criminal Court because you have not paid a consumer debt, but some creditors may try to make you think you can, this is also illegal.
If you feel you are being harassed, you may take the following action:
The first step is to write to the creditor and outline your concerns regarding the company's behaviour. Inform them that you are familiar with the terms of Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act and ask that the creditor take steps to avoid similar occurrences in the future. Make suggestions as to how youwould prefer to be contacted by the creditor and ask that they confirm their agreement to this in writing.
However if you do feel the need to make an official complaint regarding a creditor, this should firstly be made to your local Trading Standards Officer. If Trading Standards will not act it may be worth contacting the Office of Fair Trading.
check
CCCS -
Harrassment by Lowell ??? 
