A campaign that began with a study revealing that 100,000 people every year attempt to commit suicide because they are mired in heavy debt has led to changes that will require lenders and debt collectors in the United Kingdom to make their collection letters less intimidating, including a ban on “angry looking upper case letters.”
Lenders in the U.K. are currently required to comply with a law that was enacted in the 1970s (sound familiar to anyone on this side of the Atlantic?) that dictates what goes into official default notices. More lenders have been forced to send out default notices during the coronavirus pandemic, even though many people have been put into forbearance plans. The flood of letters prompted notifications that individuals should ignore them.
The influx of default notifications was the final straw for Martin Lewis, who runs a charity called the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. It was him who started the campaign back in 2018 to get the text of the letters changed because individuals who are behind on their bills are three times more likely to have considered suicide than individuals who are not. Under U.K. law, default letters were required to contain the following disclosures:
- “IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE ACTION REQUIRED BY THIS NOTICE BEFORE THE DATE SHOWN THEN THE FURTHER ACTION SET OUT BELOW MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU [OR A SURETY].”
- “IF YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY IN PAYING ANY SUM OWING UNDER THE AGREEMENT OR TAKING ANY OTHER ACTION REQUIRED BY THIS NOTICE, YOU CAN APPLY TO THE COURT WHICH MAY MAKE AN ORDER ALLOWING YOU OR ANY SURETY MORE TIME.”
Now, lenders will have to use less threatening language, explain complex terms in plain English, not contain any upper case letters, and let individuals know about options to receive free advice about their debts.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that this change could save lives,” Lewis said in a published report.
