Dealing with debt collectors:
One of the most common mistakes Canadian’s make is talking directly to debt collectors over the phone. This is absolutely the wrong way to go about dealing with collectors. Debt collectors have little to no power over you or your account. When they talk to you over the phone they make it seem like the world is going to come to an end if you don’t pay your debt ASAP. Some of them will even say you have to pay a debt by a certain day or else. This is simply not true. Collectors will try and bully you over the phone to try and get you to pay. That is their power. Once you eliminate that option for them they are basically held powerless.
Here’s a tip on how you handle a debt collector.
When you get on the phone with a collector ask for their name, contact number and mailing address. Once you have that information simply inform them that you will be sending the information on how you will be paying the debt. At that point they will probably try to keep you on the phone to get more information. Don’t. Simply tell them you will be sending them a letter in the mail, thank them for the information they provided and hang up. Don’t worry there is nothing they can do to you at this point.
At this time you should write them a letter stating that you will not be taking any phone calls from them on your personal phone as well as your place of employment, which by the way is illegal. By law they are allowed to contact your place of employment once to verify employment and that’s all. Any further contact at your place of employment is illegal and is grounds for harassment charges.
When you write the letter make sure you include a proposal to repay the debt. Hint: you have up to 5 years to pay the debt back. Simply divide the total debt you owe to them by 60 months and that is the payment amount you offer them. Make sure you state in your proposal that the repayment terms is 0% and that you want your debt listed as an R7 (voluntary repayment of debt).
For more information on debt consolidation check out Debt Consolidation in Canada
