Abstract
This chapter investigates consumers’ responses to creditors’ attempts to recollect unpaid debt. It establishes that having problem debt and being pressed by creditors to repay these debts is an emotional experience for many consumers. The pressure that creditors impose on consumers, in the form of letters and phone calls demanding money, summoning to court or threatening with repossession, eviction or termination of utilities, is perceived as violent and met with emotional reactions. As a result, many consumers avoid their creditors’ contact attempts, of which not opening letters or not answering phone calls are an example. This chapter explores the mechanisms underlying this behaviour.
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Acknowledgements
I am very thankful to the debt advice team in Tower Hamlets and all respondents for making this research possible. Financial support from Green Templeton College and the Saïd Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. I also thank Astrid Van den Bossche and Casper Thomas for insightful and helpful discussions.
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Custers, A. (2017). Falling Behind: Debtors’ Emotional Relationships to Creditors. In: Mooney, A., Sifaki, E. (eds) The Language of Money and Debt. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57568-1_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57568-1_7
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