Golden Bay Collections Ltd: Counting the cost of overspending
“If people paid their bills on time I would be out of a job.”
Louise Amitrano of Golden Bay Collections is adamant that after 30 years in the business of debt collecting she finds that when it comes to money, humanity is all the same. Across the board people owe money. High or low income earners, individuals or large businesses, family concerns, students, pensioners or Cos; there is no discrimination.
She continues to be amazed that many people owing money just can’t seem to understand that someone has already given them free credit and it’s their part of the deal to pay the money back. “Try getting free credit on your bank loan.” she laughs.
In Louise’s business, the profile of a debtor is as varied as people are, although the gender balance weighs heavily, about 80%, towards men owing money.
“If I’ve got a couple in partnership or a woman as part of a business owing money I tend to target the woman,” she says. “Somehow women seem to have more of a conscience than men and while a man may shrug his shoulders and appear to not care, a woman feels the pressure and the shame more. And does something about it.”
She says the recession, which apparently is officially over, has meant more work for her, but not because more people are in debt—more because her clients, the creditors, are taking action sooner.
“About 90% of creditors don’t let a bill run on past two months now and are more likely to take prompt action,” she says. Many people still think that you can take up to three months to pay a bill, but Louise is quick to point out this isn’t so. “If people would only read the terms and conditions when they receive credit it would make their lives much easier. There is generally something hidden there about costs and interest that people don’t read!”
She believes that people get into debt for lots of reasons and listed a variety, including “keeping up with the Joneses”, pride, ignorance, greed, and in some cases irresponsible lending by creditors to ill-informed people. She cited car yards selling $10,000 cars with a minimal deposit to young people.
“They get behind on the payments, they can’t get insurance because of their youth and they may not realise that if the car is repossessed they still have to pay the full amount if the car is then sold at a lesser price. Cars are never in the same condition as at the point of purchase and are never worth as much. I don’t think that is responsible on the part of the creditor,” says Louise.
When people do get behind with paying their bills and they get a letter from Golden Bay Collections Ltd, Louise says the best thing they can do is to contact her immediately and begin the process of repayment.
“I try to be as helpful as possible to people, but it’s up to them to communicate with me so we can work out a deal for paying the amount owed,” she says. While she has heard every excuse and sob story going she does her best not to get involved. “Of course I feel sorry for some people, but I remember the first debt collection company I worked for. My boss told me ‘there are no friends in business’.”
She says she has no time for those abusing the system and those who don’t care. “They need to pay what they owe.”
Louise started in the business of debt collection as a 15-year-old school leaver. “I hated school and my Dad said to me that I could leave on the condition that I got a job in an office, not a takeaway joint. So I started as an office junior for a debt collection company.”
She handles all kinds of debt collection but usually leaves most of the door-knocking to her team of private investigators or the repossession men and women. Louise generally sticks to core proceedings, which means time spent writing letters and sitting in front of her computer. If someone doesn’t pay up after the first communication she takes the next step, which is to issue court proceedings. Costs are incurred throughout the court process and the debtor can be asked to pay, which considerably increases their debt. Contempt Proceedings may result, and the money has to be paid back on top of the Contempt Proceedings time.
Louise says people can make it so much easier on themselves “if they pay somebody something”.
“I’m there to help it happen and I certainly don’t see myself as the bad guy,” she says. “Definitely a case of ‘don’t shoot the messenger’. I’m just doing my job and it pays to talk to me.”
Which is not to say that she hasn’t been confronted over the years. “I’ve never been attacked, but one day I sensed that an 85-year-old woman was going to have a go at me with her Spray and Wipe bottle when I served her son proceedings in a car park! I’ve been chased out of a supermarket by a woman wielding a French bread stick, screaming at me that her husband was a court registrar. As if that excused her! She still owed the money. Just doing my job.”
Budgeting advice is available in Golden Bay through the Community Workers (ph 525 9728) for anyone who feels they need help in this area of their lives. There is also plenty of helpful advice on the internet.
Jane Bellerby
