PRA Group commits to better and fairer debt collection processes

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0 

PRA Group UK is proud to have recently signed the Inclusive Economy Partnership Code of Practice for better and fairer debt collection processes. As one of the UK’s largest buyers of debt we pride ourselves on the way we do business which is reflected in our Customer promises and our goal is to make debt repayment fair and affordable.  

Let’s do more together

The Inclusive Economy Partnership unites business, civil society, and government to tackle the UK’s most pressing social and economic problems through cross-sector partnerships. The partnership model utilises distinctive skills, insights, and networks of the economy’s three major sectors: business, civil society, and government, with an aim to fulfil the potential for a fairer, more inclusive society.

Three challenge areas the model is currently tackling are:

• Getting more young people into work
• Improving mental health support at work
• Spreading financial inclusion to millions unbanked or in bad debt situations

The new Code of Practice is a set of high-level principles, which can be used by all organisations involved in consumer debt and outlines a consistent and responsible approach to collecting debt.

Establishing a common commitment

Baroness Barran MBE, Minister for Civil Society said, “Over the past year, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed a significant number of people into financial hardship. We know that the recovery effort requires government, business, and civil society organisations to work together.

That’s why this Code is so important – establishing a common commitment for how consumers can expect to be treated by creditors. I welcome the initial signatories who recognise the benefits of this and look forward to working with them and others to develop the Code further.”

Committed to helping our customers

Tim Kirk, UK Country Operations Director of PRA Group, added, “We are proud to be the first debt solutions company to sign the Code of Practice. We know that no one wants to find themselves in debt, but when they do, we are committed to helping our customers figure a way out.

To ensure we offer the best experience possible, we have a set of simple Customer Promises

• We won’t charge interest or fees while you work with us
• We will listen more than we talk
• We’ll work with you on a way forward
• You’re in control of your repayment

We also collaborate with and help to fund the leading UK free debt advice organisations and sponsor the not-for-profit Money Advice Liaison Group’s (MALG) ‘Members Friday Forum’.

Signing the Code of Practice shows our continual effort to ensure we are setting high standards for debt collection.”

You can see all the organisations committed to the Code of Practice and read more about the Inclusive Partnership online here

You are now leaving the PRAGroup website.

You are going to a third-party website, legal instructional about use governed by website’s terms and conditions and subject to security policies.

Transcript

Each year millions of people fall behind on their bills for many reasons - things don’t go as planned, and then debt happens…

When a person is unable to pay back a loan, credit card or another account, their creditor may sell that debt to a company like ours..

If your account was sold to us, we’re here to help make repayment easier.

We’ll send you a welcome letter that explains who we are and invites you to access your account online –

where you can view your account information and manage flexible payment options that allow you to create an affordable payment plan, make a payment or pay it all off.

We don’t add interest or fees, and we won’t sell your account.

And when your debt is cleared, we’ll happily send you a confirmation.

Because we understand debt happens.

We’re PRA Group.

We’re changing the way debt repayment works by treating our customers with the fairness and respect they deserve.

We’ve helped millions of people clear a debt - let’s work together to find your path to recovery.

Debt happens. So can recovery.

www.pragroup.co.uk