People in debt could still face “thuggish” threatening letters demanding they repay cash despite being given a payment holiday by lenders, says finance guru Martin Lewis as he warned that the time is now to “Stop the Debt Threats”.
The long-running campaign, spearheaded by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), has called for letters demanding cash sent under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to be axed, citing the impact they have on mental health.
The institute has found that 100,000 people in problem debt attempt suicide every year with the letters acting as a key contributing factor.
Watch our Chair and Founder @MartinSLewis explain why it’s so important that the government takes action to stop the #DebtThreats – and lend your support by signing our petition here: https://t.co/vSRq1DJCMwpic.twitter.com/PfCK1jpeHx
— Money and Mental Health (@mmhpi) June 3, 2020
That’s why they have been campaigning to make the threatening wording a thing of the past, but today Lewis points out that, with many facing financial hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown and uncertainty also straining mental health, action is needed now.
“The fact that lenders are forced by a decades-old law to send thuggish letters to people with debt problems is staggering,” said Lewis. “These letters ruin lives, and many lenders say they don’t want to send them, but the law gives them no option.