Personal insolvencies at record high

People going into voluntary insolvency has rocketed. There were 135,089 people declared insolvent during 2010, up by 0.7% compared with the previous year, the Insolvency Service has said. There were twice as many personal insolvencies as in 2005 and it was the highest since records began in 1960.

I have a problem with some of the aspects of personal debt. Many credit and loan arrangements were sold with PPI or Payment Protection Insurance. In a lot of cases these policies are worthless or do not meet the needs of customers. With rising unemployment, financial companies are keen to cut their losses. By that I mean getting rid of loans they have no further use for. They sell them on to so-called Debt Collection Agencies who are really nothing of the kind. They are mainly chancers seeking to make a quick buck from loans the original lender has seen fit to dispose of, often blithely forgetting about PPI. Sort of financial scavengers, the vultures of the loan industry.

Most people want to repay their debts. Most people do not like being in debt for longer than necessary. However, this new "industry" is keen on debt. It's all a bit like a fish farm for passed on debts. Loads of companies all fishing in a pond. If one fails to get a bite, they sell a debt onto another, possibly one with a net instead of a rod.

These companies care little for contracts, for PPI arrangements, or just simply obeying the law. They seem to prefer bamboozle and bravado. The House of Commons was debating loan sharks. I think they need to clean up the whole industry. Financial contracts can't just be "sold" without any legal niceties in place. The current arrangement implies that the law takes second place. We need some changes. I happened to find this site about debt buying companies. Virtually all appear to be rogues. And it's a succesful business for the debt chasers!

Posted in: debt collection agencies,personal debt