Are you getting bombarded with telephone calls from your creditors? Receiving calls late into the evening and even at work?

Use the following tips to STOP this activity.

1. Don’t be intimidated

Collection agents may try to scare you with threats of court action. They may also say your credit rating will be affected if you don’t pay. 

Don’t panic. The fact is that you want to pay but unfortunately you just do not have the money available.  Generally a collection agent wants to know how you plan to pay if you cannot do so today.

2. Be honest and straight forward

Tell the agent that you do not have enough money to pay immediately. But, you are taking action and reviewing your financial situation with a debt management expert.

Tell the agent that a proposal to repay the debt will be with them shortly.

3. Offer a token payment 

To show your good faith, you could offer to make a token payment of a pound or two while your proposals for repayment are being finalised.

However, don’t feel obligated to do this. Generally it will make no difference to whether the creditor eventually accepts your debt management proposal.

4. Know your rights

If a collection agent continues to pressure you or you continue to receive calls, you can get a bit more forceful.

Tell them that unless they stop and give you time to resolve the problem sensibly, you will report them to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for harassment.
 
5. Change your number

If all else fails, you can consider changing your home telephone number. You are perfectly at liberty to do this if you wish.

BT also have a service called "Choose to Refuse" which might help if you are getting a lot of calls from an unpleasant creditor.  If you frequently receive unwanted or nuisance calls from a particular number, you can block that number. The cost of the service is approx £4 per month per quarter.

6. Keep your cool

And finally, remember when you are on the telephone with a collecting agent, always try to keep your cool and be polite. This is not always easy. However, getting angry will not help and will probably just result in you becoming even more stressed.