Take Matters Up With Your Creditors To Deal With Health Issues

Debt can cause both physical and mental health issues. This is primarily because all types of debt situations and the stress associated with them can lead to anxiety. This anxiety will lead to depression which will in turn lead to minor and even serious health issues. These issues may include:

• Minor or frequent headaches
• Constant body pain
• Change in behavior
• Increased risk of heart and other cardiovascular diseases and much more.

When you face such conditions, do not run away from them or hide them from others. Chances are high that they may come up with useful tips and suggestions to deal with your debt. Surprising as it may seem, even your creditors can help you a lot in this matter when you want to deal with your mental and physical health issues seriously and effectively.

Therefore, if you are sure that you are suffering from such health issues due to the debts that you currently have, you must not be hesitant but in fact, come out of your shell and talk about your debt and its effects on your health with your creditors.

The positive side of it

This will have some positive effects and provide you with some serious benefits.

• Such action will convey a positive message about you to your creditors showing that you are honest about the matter, know about your debts and their effects, and want to come out of it seriously and not want to run away.
• Often the creditors even the debt collectors for that matter may provide you with a lot of insights about your debt having to deal with customers like you now and then who are suffering from health issues.
• They may even suggest you visit an experienced debt advisor or debt management agency for that matter. They may even suggest you visit a few sites of different debt relief providers to choose the best debt relief programs.

However, you are suggested to take any option as per your situation after considering the pros and cons of it. Since every relief option will have its characteristic features you must know it all clearly to ensure it proves to be useful for you. For example, if you consider settling your debts, you must work with agencies that have high debt settlement ratings.

That fact that the creditors want their money back seriously they will try to ensure that they get it back from you better late than never. In case you file for bankruptcy and find it impossible to repay or something serious happens to you due to your deteriorating health condition, they will lose the entire amount.

To help you out and reduce the debt stress they may:

• Suggest a debt management plan
• Lower or even waive some fees and interest and
• Offer some more time to you to repay.

However, they will not do anything beyond their limits and at the same time will ensure that all of the rules and regulations set by the regulatory authorities are followed.

These rules apply to the debt collectors as well as the creditors. According to these rules, it is essential for all creditors and debt collectors to treat vulnerable and suffering clients like you fairly. (1)

Policies and principles

It is better to talk to your creditors directly rather than others because all creditors, banks, or financial institutions have certain policies and procedures crafted to deal with such customers who are facing health issues. Until and unless you speak out to them they will not know your situation and suggest proper remedial measures.

Contacting them directly over the phone or email and even better in person will let your creditors know that it is your condition that is not allowing you to pay even if you have the best of intentions to do so. They will find the best-suited policies for you to help you deal with your debt as well as its effects on your health. (2)

The process to follow

When you show your intent to talk with your creditors, you must follow a specific process that will also help you to document your approach. You can use it as a reference when required.

Firstly, you should send a letter to your creditors seeking an appointment to talk to them. Make sure that this letter is precise and contains all the important points. A few of these points could be:

• What the doctor has diagnosed
• The remedies to it and
• The duration of the problem.

To make your claims more substantial and make your case more solid you can attach a copy of your treatments from the hospital or clinic.

In addition to that, you must also make sure that:

• You write the name of the doctor who is treating you presently
• You include every little detail regarding your current income along with valid proofs and documents
• You mention all the types of debts that you have o the creditor and
• Include the minimum amount that you can afford to pay back for your debt every month.

When called, meet the creditor and explain everything in detail without suppressing any facts. You must be very honest to confess your situation and faults if any.

The possible outcomes of such consultation with your creditors can be different and mostly depends on the discretion of the creditors. They can:

• Suspend any current collection activity for a specific period for example six months and resume the same after a proper review of the situation and
• Also ask you to provide a few other specific documents such as a letter from the doctor, income and expenditure statement, debt and mental health shreds of evidence, and others.

When the creditors respond to your calls, you will have some more time to focus on your recovery and make arrangements by that time to make the payments. However, if the creditors and the debt collectors do not cooperate with you in this dire situation, you can take up your case with the financial ombudsman.