Fears over legislation designed to control loan sharks will be considered before a final Bill is presented to Parliament, the home affairs minister vowed yesterday.

Walton Brown explained that submissions made during public consultation on the Debt Collection Act 2018 will be looked at by the Attorney-General’s office to see if any changes are needed.

Mr Brown also promised that massive fees charged by collection agencies would be tackled under the proposed rules after lawyers warned the problem was not properly covered by the draft legislation.

He said: “We are very encouraged by the feedback we have received regarding this Bill.

“Careful consideration will be given to the concerns and suggestions that were expressed.

“Our goal is to produce a final version of the Bill that is effective, will provide protection through accountability and oversight and one that will benefit consumers who are debtors, companies that extend credit and the agencies responsible for collecting debts.

“The submissions will be reviewed and shared with the Attorney-General’s chambers in order to consider amendments to the Bill where necessary.”

Mr Brown thanked everyone who provided written responses to the Bill during the consultation period, which ended last month.

The Royal Gazette reported on Monday that lawyers were worried the Act, as proposed, would not crack down on “punitive” and “exorbitant” fees charged by companies hired to collect debts.

The Ministry of Home Affairs read through 19 pages of submissions and a spokesman said the points raised will be discussed “with the draftspersons in due course”.

The spokesman added: “The issue of exorbitant fees will also be addressed in this Bill.”

The legislation was designed to provide a regulatory framework for debt collection agencies under a new Debt Collection Licensing Authority in a bid to stamp out abusive practices such as harassing phone calls and “predatory” lending.

Mr Brown told the House of Assembly in July that the debt collection Bill “represents the first tranche of proposals to address the Government’s Throne Speech commitment to introduce regulations for debt collection agencies, regulate payday lenders who lend money at extraordinary interest rates and bring banking, insurance and other financial service conduct under the umbrella of an updated Consumer Protection Act.”

He added: “Further legislation will be proposed to address consumer services provided by the banking, insurance and other financial services industries after consultation with the public and private sector stakeholder groups.”

The ministry was asked yesterday for more details on what the additional legislation would cover but none was received.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe said he had given the proposed Debt Collection Act 2018 “some review”. He added: “It would have been nice if we were consulted before they actually drafted something up.”

Mr Wolffe said: “Surprisingly, there are debt collectors who actually welcome legislation to regulate debt collection, so I don’t think you’re going to get too much issue there.

“I also think that what precipitated that Act might have been, I’m just speculating, might have been just one or two persons who maybe had a bad experience with debt collectors, maybe even in the court.

“I think that the vast majority of persons coming before the court ... their experience is one where they feel they were listened to, I think, anyway.”

Sheelagh Cooper, the chairwoman of Habitat for Humanity of Bermuda and a social campaigner, welcomed the initiative.

She said: “I am very pleased to see the attention being paid to the regulation of businesses that specialise in debt collection.

“This is vitally important as the penalties levelled and the interest rates charged are often exorbitant and this has made it virtually impossible for a struggling family to ever dig themselves out of that burden.

“Clearly there needs to be a court assisted vehicle for debt collection but a review of the terms and conditions set out by the collection agencies is long overdue for review.

“I commend Mr Brown for taking the lead here.“