should i pay off debt collectors
What happens if you ignore debt collection letters?
Receiving letters from debt collectors can be worrying, and many people find it difficult to tackle them head-on. These pieces of paper can play with your emotions, often making you act irrationally. They can end up shoved down the back of the sofa, hidden away with other creditor chaser letters, or ripped up and put in the bin. Instead of confronting the letter, it can feel easier to ignore them in the hope that the problem will eventually disappear.
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You will read on the internet people with the best intentions saying:
"Use it as toilet paper because that's all it's worth" or
"Just bin them; they can't do anything".
The truth is, this is terrible advice, and following it could create more problems. It's important to be cautious and attentive when dealing with debt collectors, as following bad advice can lead to unnecessary complications.
Yes, sometimes a Debt Collector will ‘give up’, but this isn’t due to your lack of correspondence. It will be a commercial decision made by the business. It's a gamble not to take these letters seriously.
“But I didn’t receive any letters”, won’t work
If a debt collector or creditor decides to recover your debt, they will continue to send letters. It doesn’t matter how many you put in the bin; they will continue to send them. Eventually, the day may come that the letters you’ve been discarding result in you receiving a County Court Claim Form.
Your planned defence might be to say that.
"you didn't receive any letters" or
"you didn’t have an opportunity to read them."
Be aware in the UK that a letter is considered ‘received’ if it has not been returned after a reasonable amount of time.
This means the recipient will have had enough time to open and read the letter.
You can see how this tactic isn’t going to stand up in court.
The debt collector or creditor will happily send several letters over a long period of time, as it is part of their strategy. Let’s look at why.
Why do debt collectors send lots of letters?
It is much harder to argue that you didn't receive ten letters than just one letter. If all ten letters go in the bin, that means not even one of those letters has been sent back to the Debt Collector. No letter has been marked as ‘undelivered’ or ‘return to sender’.
Based on ten letters being sent and not one being returned, it is reasonable for the court to assume that you have received at least one.
Sending letters over a long time period.
The debt collector must also wait a reasonable period of time before taking strong action, such as a County Court Judgment (CCJ). This is to allow you a reasonable amount of time to read and respond to at least one of the letters; it is also part of the protocol.
So, it’s fair to say that if you do not return the letters to the sender or they remain unactioned by you and are not making payments, you are leaving yourself open to the risk of legal action.
Remember to read The Real Debt Guy's final thoughts below!
The Real Debt Guy is a qualified financial adviser and a UK debt expert. The information in this article is considered to be true and correct at the publication date.
