Published By Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
A recent story in Employee Benefit News highlighted the top uses of legal plans by members. One of these happens to be dealing with creditors. People develop credit problems for one reason or another, and it is not against the law to be in debt. However, some of the things that creditors do to get their money come close to being criminal.
Creditors are notorious for harassment. They will make phone calls at any time of the day to pester a person about outstanding debts. This can be a serious problem for an employer because if a person has made public his or her office phone number, creditors can easily call the office and hound the individual at the workplace. People in credit debt need to understand collection laws and what can be done to stop the harassment. The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) has outlined what a debt collector can legally do, but the average person is not too familiar with all the steps necessary to avoid harassing phone calls. This is where having a group legal benefit plan can be of great benefit to an employee.
Such assistance granted by the employer allows an individual to get in contact with experienced debt legal counsel. The attorneys can inform a person of his or her rights, and how to stop a debt collection agency from making life a holy hell. It is possible that debt collectors may be in violation of the law and can be sued. Group legal protection can help a person file a tort for all the distress caused and successfully seek damages caused by the wrongful activity. Best of all, the fees for such a lawsuit can be kept within reasonable bounds thanks to a legal benefit provided by an employer.
There are of course other actions that can be taken besides a lawsuit, and credentialed attorneys knowledgeable in laws governing debt can help. It may be possible to use legal counsel to negotiate reasonable payments and settlements. Perhaps the most important outcome is a serious reduction in the stress an employee suffers from having to deal with a collection agency. Employers who have the best interests of their employees at heart realize that providing a group legal plan to get out of a debt jungle is one of the best possible benefits.
Employees can spend large amounts of time during the day concerned with personal financial matters, and dealing with creditors is an oppressing burden. Companies need to help take minds off such anxiety creators and refocus attention instead on business matters. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offers group legal benefits that can help employees better handle creditor harassment and deal more effectively with unethical creditor behavior. Plans can be set up that are paid totally by the employee or the employer, and payments can also be made by both in a shared situation. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services strives to be flexible and to offer the best group legal assistance that a company can provide for its employees.