How to Handle Debt Collectors
With the amount of household debt floating around out there it is little wonder that some households are now in a debt squeeze. If your being hounded by debt collectors and your debt situation is starting to cause you stress then here are some handy hints to deal with the next creditor calling in on you while your settling down to dinner.
The first thing to realize is that at the end of the day the person on the other end of the telephone is a person. They may be working for the creditor who is wanting to chase your current debt but many of these debt collectors are willing to work with you if you are sincere about getting your debt in order with them.
The first you should do when you realize that you are going to find it difficult to meet repayments on an outstanding loan is to call the creditor up straight away and let them know. Whether its your bank or a credit provider give them a call and be upfront about your situation. What you will find is that many will be willing to work with you to organize a payment plan arrangement especially if you haven't previously missed any repayments. After all they want to avoid you becoming a bad debtor which ultimately costs the company more money in trying to recover the debt from you at a later date.
By agreeing to a payment plan arrangement you can avoid damaging your credit and avoid the company hounding you at ungodly hours trying to recover their debt. If on the other hand you are currently already behind on your repayments and you do have creditors chasing you then the most sensible thing for you to do is to be polite to the person on the other end of the line. They may do this every day of the week and they are used to being hassled and aggressively spoken to by bad debtors so you will be a refreshing change. By being polite you have a better chance of them working with you to repay your debt than otherwise will be possible.
They main thing you want to do is to negotiate a payment plan with them. Try to find out how flexible they are with these repayments, things you might want to try and find out is the duration of the payment plan, how little you can get away paying and frequency. By knowing how flexible or inflexible they are you can then agree to a plan that you are comfortable with but one that will also give you the most flexibility to work with. What you don't want to do is agree to a plan and than miss a payment.
At the end of the day debt collectors are just doing their job, if you are patient and polite to them chances are they will reciprocate and work with you within reason to help you get out of debt.
The first thing to realize is that at the end of the day the person on the other end of the telephone is a person. They may be working for the creditor who is wanting to chase your current debt but many of these debt collectors are willing to work with you if you are sincere about getting your debt in order with them.
The first you should do when you realize that you are going to find it difficult to meet repayments on an outstanding loan is to call the creditor up straight away and let them know. Whether its your bank or a credit provider give them a call and be upfront about your situation. What you will find is that many will be willing to work with you to organize a payment plan arrangement especially if you haven't previously missed any repayments. After all they want to avoid you becoming a bad debtor which ultimately costs the company more money in trying to recover the debt from you at a later date.
By agreeing to a payment plan arrangement you can avoid damaging your credit and avoid the company hounding you at ungodly hours trying to recover their debt. If on the other hand you are currently already behind on your repayments and you do have creditors chasing you then the most sensible thing for you to do is to be polite to the person on the other end of the line. They may do this every day of the week and they are used to being hassled and aggressively spoken to by bad debtors so you will be a refreshing change. By being polite you have a better chance of them working with you to repay your debt than otherwise will be possible.
They main thing you want to do is to negotiate a payment plan with them. Try to find out how flexible they are with these repayments, things you might want to try and find out is the duration of the payment plan, how little you can get away paying and frequency. By knowing how flexible or inflexible they are you can then agree to a plan that you are comfortable with but one that will also give you the most flexibility to work with. What you don't want to do is agree to a plan and than miss a payment.
At the end of the day debt collectors are just doing their job, if you are patient and polite to them chances are they will reciprocate and work with you within reason to help you get out of debt.