My Insurance Insider and Finance Blog

 
photo credit: eric731

Today we’re passing through a difficult phase due to credit crisis of financial market. Lehman Brothers became bankrupt, Merrill Lynch has been sold out, AIG(insurance giant) is in the ICU and trying to survive on life support with billions of dollars federal bank loan  and many more companies probably are in the queue. There are countless of job loss happening world over.

If you’re a victim of job loss, medical emergency or other cause of income loss, you may be one of the millions of individuals facing a pile of debts that you cannot cover. If you miss one or two payments, you will get a call from a debt collector.

Calls from debt collectors trying to find you at your place of employment can be humiliating. But every debt collector may not be so unsympathetic and not everybody has the same story. They are also handsomely rewarded for their efforts in collecting the debt with a commission.

But why are they allowed to do these sort of humiliating act?

Debt collectors are allowed to contact you in person, by mail, by telegram, by fax and by phone, at home or at work - unless they know your employer would disapprove or you have agreed to. They must contact your attorney unless you don’t have one.

They may then contact other people to find out your telephone number, work place or address, but in most cases they are not allowed to inform them that you owe money or contact them more than once. You may stay away from them by writing a letter to the collector telling them to stop contact or requesting them to contact your attorney.

But stopping contact will not clear the debt itself. If you feel you do not owe the debt, make that clear in your letter.

But what can you do if you’re harassed anyway?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC in USA) or The Office of Fair Trading in UK have a fair debt collection policy to protect consumers from harassing them. By knowing your rights, you can put off even the most determined collector since they are law-bound. You can get more information,if you’re happen to be an Indian citizen.
Debt collectors are NOT allowed to harass, abuse you or other individuals from your family or friends on your behalf - that includes obscene language, threats of violence or repeated calling in an effort to annoy.

They are never ever allowed to misrepresent themselves or as government agents, attorneys or representing a credit bureau or hide their identity. They cannot imply legal action, including seizing property or garnishing wages unless they are legally allowed and intend to do so.

You can find out more about your rights from the FTC and educate yourself. You can report to against an agent by contacting the FTC or your Attorney General. If they break the law, you have the right to sue them.