Catalogue debts Mail order catalogues offer a way of buying goods by post and spreading the payments over a set period. Orders for goods and payment collections are sometimes carried out by a local agent. They may be a friend, relative or neighbour. Goods ordered from a catalogue belong to you and cannot be taken back if you do not pay. Treat them as a non-priority debt. Are you a catalogue agent? If you are a catalogue agent, as long as you set up separate accounts for each customer, you (as an agent) should not be held personally responsible for your customers’ missed payments. Payday loans A payday loan is a high-cost short-term loan. Many people use them if they have run out of money before their next payday. The interest rates can be very high and charges will be added if you can’t pay the loan back on the payday. A payday loan is a non-priority debt. Check whether you have given a ‘continuous payment authority’ (CPA) to the loan company. This is where you give the loan company permission to take money using your debit card or credit card. You may not realise you have given this permission. You can stop a CPA by telling the bank or the payday loan company to do so. See our Payday loans fact sheet for how to cancel a CPA and for sample letters to use. Personal debts to family and friends You usually treat these debts as ordinary non-priority debts and make offers of payment in the same way. However, family and friends may agree to receive no payments until your circumstances improve, so you can pay off your other creditors faster. Sometimes, you may want to make higher payments to personal debts. This could be because lending you the money has caused hardship to someone you know, or will affect your relationship. This can be difficult, as your other creditors may be unhappy that you are paying more to a personal debt than is strictly ‘fair’. Explain the reasons to your other creditors. Page 96