Do the right thing, Adviser's and creditors experience of best practice ...

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What about peoplewho won’t pay?The advice sector helps people exercise their rightsand understand their responsibilities. Sometimesadvisers might challenge a creditor’s ability torecover a debt, for example, when a benefit ortax credit overpayment is caused by official errorand the person could not have reasonably knownthey had been over paid, or if a consumer creditagreement was not completed correctly.But advisers will not help people avoid theirresponsibilities when they can and should pay.We are aware, however, that creditors willencounter people who simply will not pay. But itis extremely difficult, if not impossible, to tell thesepeople apart from people who have problemsmanaging their money.For example, there are people who won’t paybecause they can’t pay what their creditors areasking. There are people whose circumstancesmake it hard for them to deal with creditors, forexample, because of a mental or physical healthproblem or a previous bad experience. When thesepeople are contacted, by phone or letter, they maywell not be able to cope. As a result they may notrespond or simply put the phone down.How can these people be distinguished from thosewho could pay but won’t? There is no easy answer.However, if creditors take a flexible and pragmaticapproach, one that rewards engagement, givesincentives to repayment and addresses the person’sneeds over time, those who could pay but won’tpay should be easier to identify and deal with.24
Do you want to be partof the conversation?Appendix 1This report has used advisers’ experiences andexamples of current best practice to set out thesteps we believe all creditors should take to achievebest practice in debt collection. We now want tostart a conversation with all creditors about howwe can improve debt collection practices acrossthe board. If you want to be part of thisconversation, if you would like to help us forma best practice working party, or meet with usto discuss your collections practice, or if you wantto tell us about your organisation’s good practice,please contact us:By post:Alex MacDermottCreditor Liaison Policy OfficerCitizens AdviceMyddelton House115–123 Pentonville RoadLondon N1 9LZEmail: alex.macdermott@citizensadvice.org.ukTel: 020 7833 7191This report would not have been possible withoutthe help of those advisers who completed ouronline survey and those creditors who tookpart in detailed interviews.We would like to thank all of these people for theirhelp. In particular we would like to thank thosecreditors who contributed to this report, namely:Allied International CreditCabot FinancialCapital OneEquidebtFC CollectionsGreenwich Council’s neighbourhood servicesM&S MoneyNorthern RockProvident Personal CreditSantander Cards UKSovereign Housing AssociationWealden District CouncilWescot Credit ServicesWessex WaterThis report was produced as part of an independentproject run by Citizens Advice and funded by theRoyal Bank of Scotland group to identify systemicissues between the financial services industry andthe free independent advice sector.25
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