How do I stop debt collectors harassing me?

Debt collectors are entitled to ask you to pay. They are not entitled to grind you down. Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970 makes it a criminal offence to harass a debtor — punishable by up to six months' imprisonment or a fine — and the FCA's CONC 7 rules bind every regulated lender, debt purchaser and collection agency.

What crosses the line

• Calling repeatedly, or outside reasonable hours — typically 8am to 9pm.
• Discussing the debt with your employer (except to enforce a court-ordered attachment of earnings), your neighbours or your family.
• Threatening criminal prosecution over what is a civil debt, or claiming court action is imminent when it is not.
• Posing as a bailiff, solicitor or court official — that is fraud, not merely a rule breach.
• Refusing a payment plan you can actually afford, or continuing to chase after a Breathing Space is registered or after you have told them you are vulnerable.

How to shut it down

Start a log today: date, time, who called and what was said, plus every letter, text and email. That log is your evidence. Then write to the firm — email or recorded delivery — saying that all future communication must be in writing only, and that they are not to call you, your workplace or your family. That is both a CONC requirement and a data protection request under UK GDPR, so ignoring it breaches two regimes at once.

If it continues, make a formal complaint: regulated firms must respond within eight weeks. Then take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to you and whose decisions bind the firm. Awards for distress in harassment cases typically run from £150 to £500, and £1,500 to £3,000 in serious ones, and the ombudsman can order the behaviour to stop, order charges refunded, and in extreme cases require part of the debt to be written off. Report a pattern of misconduct to the FCA, misuse of your data to the ICO, and anything criminal — including a "bailiff" at your door with no warrant — to the police. Two more things are worth doing: ask for the original credit agreement under sections 77 and 78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, because a debt they cannot evidence may be unenforceable; and check the dates, because a statute-barred debt cannot be enforced through the courts at all.