Debt Collectors work to collect debts on the behalf of business and government. Debt collectors include organisations that are collecting debt on behalf of organisations money is owed to after a service has been set up or organisations that have bought the debt from another organisation and will retain all money collected. Irrespective of the type of debt collector, you have protections under consumer law and privacy codes. For individuals experiencing identity theft, debt collection notices may be the first sign that an identity has been misused to obtain a line of credit.
Generally speaking, under Australian and New Zealand debt collectors cannot:
This applies to yourself, your spouse, your family, or others who may be connected to you. If a debt collector mistreats you, you can make a formal complaint the relevant authority (Aust is ACCC and NZ is Consumer Protection).
If the debt is legal and reasonable, a debt collector should only contact you when it is necessary to do so. Reasons may include:
Visits to your home will only ever happen if there is no other way the debt collector can contact you, or if you ask or agree to a home visit. If poor conduct occurs that results in assaults or threats of violence, then the collector should be reported to immediately.
Seven steps are key when you suspect a debt collection is a sign that your identity has been misused by someone to obtain credit in your name without repayment:
Identity Care Australia & New Zealand Ltd (IDCARE) provides identity and cyber security incident response services (the Services) in accordance with the following disclaimer of service:
IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber incident community support service. We are a not-for-profit charity.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this alert, IDCARE disclaims any liability to any person in respect to any actions performed or not performed as a result of the contents of the the Services or any accompanying data provided. Wider dissemination may be permitted by authority in writing from IDCARE’s Managing Director. If you would like to provide feedback please use our Feedback Form.
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