Extreme Debt Collection Methods

Some trainee debt collectors in action

I’m sure there are many pre-conceptions about how debt collectors work, or how an effective credit controller goes about making sure that payments come in on time. However, I can say with total conviction that the tactics employed by a group of unofficial money-lenders in China are not part of the MCC portfolio.

It was reported in The Telegraph, the FT, The Sun and a few other places, that some rogue money-lenders had hired older ladies from outdoor dancing classes who then used highly intimidating tactics to get borrowers to pay up. Several of them have been jailed for doing things like shouting through a megaphone outside the debtors house to humiliate them in front of their neighbours, carrying out beatings, or even stripping naked in front of the debtor in the street and implying a sexual assault had taken place. Though Chinese authorities eventually caught up with this gang, imprisoning many of them for long sentences, here in the UK the law is very strict on personal and company debt as we’ve written about before.

When pursuing overdue debts, here at MCC we recognise that we are bringing a contractual obligation by a customer back on track after its gone awry. The tactics will therefore be polite, unemotional and business-like, but with a clearly articulated end-game where the debt is paid off to our client’s satisfaction. The outcome is not in doubt, we are just determining how we are going to get there. So far, shouting in the street, violence, or taking your clothes have not been necessary for us to collect millions for our clients. I, for one, am very pleased about that.