Victory in battle against ‘thuggish’ debt letters

Long-standing laws require warnings about potential court action to be written in bold or in block capitals.

A campaign by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute claimed the letters were counter-productive and worsened mental health problems.

Now the Treasury has vowed they should be “less threatening”.

However, the changes may not be fully implemented until mid-2021.

‘Complex and intimidating’

Under the rules of the Consumer Credit Act from 1974, warnings in these letters should be written in capitals or in bold.

For example, the letter states: “IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE ACTION REQUIRED BY THIS NOTICE BEFORE THE DATE SHOWN THEN THE FURTHER ACTION SET OUT BELOW MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU.”

The institute said that this “complex and intimidating” language risked adding further distress to those already facing mental health difficulties.

According to estimates produced by the institute, about 100,000 people in problem debt in England attempted suicide last year.