What is the best way of handling your creditors?
You will need to look at things from their point of view to understand the way that they will react to the fact that you haven’t paid your account.
They have given you a product or service that has cost them in time or money and all they expect in return is for their account to be paid. They are trying to run a business and for all that you know they might be faced with financial difficulties themselves where they are reliant on getting the accounts paid on time to cover their expenditure.
So when you are faced with a situation where you can’t pay your creditors you need to contact them as soon as possible to explain the situation and assure them that you will pay the account as soon as you can. You need to make them feel satisfied that they will be getting their money even though there will be a delay and that delay has only been caused because you simply have no alternative.
This communication will reduce the chances of creditors taking legal action against you to recover the money. It will make them feel a lot more comfortable than for you to remain silent and not let them know what is going on and have one month dragged into the next when your account hasn’t been paid and they become ever more frustrated at the fact that you are not responding to their requests for payment.
Treat them as you would hope to be treated yourself if you were in a similar situation.
Remain in contact with them on a regular basis even as you are paying off your old debt to keep assuring them that full and final payment will be coming. This will help to build some form of trust between you and your creditor and they will begin to understand that you are making a concerted effort to clear your account.