Sir, – May I provide some relief to the many who clearly still suffer greatly from the misconception (regularly propagated by certain sectors of the media) that you can go to prison if you are not able to pay your debts.
The hysteria last generated by this misinformation on the part of, in particular, the broadcast media led directly to hurried legislation being introduced making it almost impossible to commit anyone to prison for even a refusal to pay when, in my respectful opinion, no such legislation was necessary.
The law before that legislation, and since, is clear: a court has no power to commit anyone to prison for inability to pay a debt. A judge may only imprison someone who is able to pay but deliberately refuses to do so or who repeatedly ignores summonses to attend a court to explain their circumstances. This misconception, I suspect, is also cultivated by certain debt-collection agencies to scare people.
I regularly encounter instances of people terrified they will go to prison because they can’t pay their mortgage or other debts and am always very happy to assure them that it’s not possible for that to happen; and the relief that ensues is palpable. – Yours, etc,