Martin Lewis has spoken out about the rise in threatening debt letters from finance companies - and what to do about it. The Money Saving Expert said that many people were getting the worrying claims - and said many of them were ‘false’ because they were targeting the wrong person.
Appearing on ITV’s this morning with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, he took calls from callers on the energy crisis and Cost of Living situation. In one 91-year-old Rita spoke of concerns about debt collection letters appearing at her address the ECHO reports.. The anxious pensioner said despite the letters being registered to her address, they were not in her name but instead to another family member who lives with her.
Being the primary tenant at the property, she asked Martin whether or not she should pay them off after being concerned about facing the consequences. This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby stressed that you should never pay off a debt that is not yours.
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Martin agreed and walked the caller through the best way to handle the situation. He told today’s show: “I ran a campaign with my charity last year to get the letters that people are sent when they’re in debt from finance companies to be changed because they were forced to send you threatening letters and we did that.
“One of our latest campaigns is to look at that in the energy industry that they should be signposting you, not threatening you.
“If this is not your debt, you do not pay that debt.
“You do not pay it and I have to say British Gas and E.On, we’ve just published a report of a lot of people getting false debt claims because a lot of the people being chased don’t have these debts. Regardless of who lives at your address you are not responsible for any debt that is not in your name nor will you be liable or expected to pay it or any interest rates with it.
“Many of the people they are chasing don’t really have those debts. If it is not your debt, you do not pay it. You write a formal letter to British Gas and if not, you write to the ombudsman.”
Consumer champion Martin went on to say the best method of clearing the debt is to contact the agencies sending the letters to inform them of the situation and that they need to redirect their concerns to the relevant person and not the main tenant at the address. He reiterated that people should not pay a penny to any debt that is not theirs regardless of letters.
