Man Receives Collection Letter For 13 Cents

Shouldn’t there be limits to help determine at what point you decide it’s not worth it to collect a debt?

A grandfather in the United Kingdom received a collection letter in the mail from his local township, threatening that if he did not pay the unpaid debt, his account would be sent to collections. In the U.K., many collection agencies employ door-to-door collectors, which means the man likely would have had people knocking on his door to collect a debt. The township also threatened the man with a lawsuit if the debt was not paid.

How much was the debt for?

The equivalent of about 13 cents.

The township generated a letter, printed it, and mailed it to the man in an attempt to collect 13 cents. The amount was so low that the man could not even log in and make the payment online; he had to go to town hall and pay the debt in cash, which he did with the U.K. equivalent of a dime, even though he says he never incurred the debt.

In deciding to pay the debt, the man had a good reason: it would have cost taxpayers more money if the township decided to place the debt with a collection agency or worse, actually file a lawsuit to collect.

“I use their services and get a fantastic service from the council’s parks team and don’t want them to suffer in any way,” he said. “But if I don’t pay this 10p and the council got the heavies in, it would cost you and me money.”