BRATISLAVA, August 30, (WEBNOVINY) — The number of clients in Slovakia unable to repay their liabilities continues to grow. While companies’ payment discipline improved last year, people’s wallets still appear to feel the crisis. Director General of the debt collection company EOS KSI Slovensko Michal Soltes further informed that as much as 40 percent of customers in Slovakia fail repaying their obligations in time. In 2010 alone, one in ten Slovaks failed to pay off some of their obligations long enough to be handed over into the care of one of the specialized collection companies. These companies accepted from lenders over 400,000 receivables into their administration worth EUR 176 million last year.
According to statistics, Slovaks chiefly fail to repay loans from unlicensed deposit companies. When people need cash, a loan from a non-banking company appears to be a fast and carefree option. Soltes underscores that people often cannot adequately consider “dis(advantageousness)” of such loan. After some time they are unable to settle the regular installments or a long repayment period. However, people also have trouble repaying bank consumer loans, hire-purchased goods or invoices for telecommunications services because of insufficient comprehension of the product and careless use of telephone services. As for housing loans, clients often overestimate their limits regarding the volume of the drawn loans and subsequent loan installments.
Soltes went on saying that especially marketing and directed subliminal incitement to immediate purchase of goods and related presentation of a simple availability of money and carefree repayment are behind the careless accumulation of debts. Other impulses that induce people to careless accumulation of more debts are commercials that never present all facts and only then follow the life situation and existential problems on the list of reasons behind the defaulted liabilities. Another problem that Soltes mentioned is general financial illiteracy. “All problems are connected with so-called income optimism, which is subjective assumption of personal income stability, or its continual growth. The crisis has proven, however, that life brings changes and more conservative approach, i.e. creation of a reserve equal several-month income seems entirely appropriate instead of excessive optimism.
SITA
