Debt collectors’ mind games ‘devastate’ mental health

Mind games used by aggressive debt collectors can cause suicidal feelings and have a “devastating” effect on mental health, a charity warned.

Reports of bailiffs forcing their way into peoples’ homes and intimidating their children have raised serious concerns among campaigners.

They are now calling on the government to step up public protection and introduce more robust regulation of the industry.

A study by mental health charity Mind found 80 per cent of those visited by enforcement agents had experienced threatening behaviour.

According to the survey, 50 per cent of people who received an unwelcome knock on the door said it left them feeling suicidal.

Meanwhile, 96 per cent reported increased levels of anxiety and 87 per cent reported increased depression.

The poll, of 453 adults, found one in 10 was being pursued for debts of under £100 while 70 per cent were charged excessive fees.

Sian Meredith, who bought a new house and was then chased for the previous owner’s unpaid parking fines, said she was called a liar when she tried to reason with bailiffs. The 50-year-old accountant told The Times: “It’s so scary – they threaten to burgle your house, to clamp your car, and it is horrible knowing they could just turn up at any time.

“They rely on bullying, intimidation and people not understanding the law... I received a demand for final payment within 48 hours, sent second-class, so I didn’t even receive it in time.”

She was so distressed she can no longer stay in the house, in Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, alone.

Another woman, named only as Louise, said she was left traumatised by debt collectors after a mistake by her local authority meant she fell into arrears with her council tax.

“I have been harassed, bullied, shouted at, threatened. Sometimes you just feel like giving up. You feel physically sick. It’s so frightening,” she said.

“When they come it’s not a normal knock on your door. You hear of people talking about ‘a police knock’ but this is something else, it sounded like they were trying to boot down the door.

“Then they will just sit outside your house, maybe for an hour, and pretend to write things down and make phone calls. It’s all mind games.”

The Mind study, carried out between December and January, found many people who reported unpleasant experiences did not complain because they did not know who to speak to while others claimed they were too upset to raise the issue.

Only five per cent of those polled said bailiffs had provided them with information when it was requested.

Paul Farmer, Mind’s chief executive officer, stressed the need for tighter regulation to clamp down on the “bullying tactics”.

“We have heard cases of bailiffs forcing their way into homes, threatening people with prison and even intimidating people’s children,” he said.