Struggling with debt? It’s vital to reach out for help

Many leave it far too late to seek advice

DISTRAUGHT

One young mum with a newborn was distraught. She had just had a visit from the bailiffs about rent and council tax arrears of a few thousand pounds – and they said they’d be back in two days to collect the money.

She had lost her job when her boss found out she was pregnant, and her partner’s income wasn’t enough to keep up with the basic bills.

Another young married couple with four children, both working full-time and living in rented accommodation, had built up debts trying to make ends meet. They were being bombarded with letters and phone calls from creditors and didn’t know where to turn.

Elsewhere, a single mum with two kids was facing an eviction hearing after getting into £2,000 worth of rent arrears, along with council tax debt, credit card and payday loan debt.

She ended up in a debt spiral after her ex-partner failed to pay any child maintenance.

One 59-year-old man had ended up with a £6,000 debt on loans and credit cards after being made redundant and trying to live off Universal Credit.

But financial difficulties can hit anyone hard. PayPlan says almost half of its clients are aged between 30 and 45, they are typically in a relationship, in full-time employment with an average £21,478 of unsecured debt.

It was heartbreaking hearing the dreadful situations people had ended up in after one simple thing in their life changed and knocked them over the financial cliff. Or, disgracefully, because those on lower incomes simply don’t get paid enough to survive.

I really don’t know how Sam and his colleagues do this day in, day out. It is very disturbing knowing that someone on the other end of the phone is literally in the depths of despair.

Sam says: “It is heartbreaking as we hear such sad and overwhelming stories constantly. It can also be frustrating when people have left things to spiral out of control and not got help sooner. That leaves people with fewer routes out of debt. People feel embarrassed to ask for help. There is a huge stigma around money troubles.

“It can be hard to switch off as some cases really stick with you. But I try and leave it behind at the end of my shift. I play a lot of football which helps me to de-stress and clear my mind. “This work can also be amazing. “I get a real buzz when I find a solution and I can hear the change in a person’s voice from sheer panic and despair to utter relief.” One of the key mistakes that people make is to leave it too late to get help. A third of people in financial difficulty admit they wait three to four years before finally getting advice – by which time their situation has seemingly spiralled out of control.

PayPlan has launched a new campaign in an attempt to break down the barriers which prevent people from seeking help.

Let’s Talk About Debt will highlight that no one is alone in facing the challenges that debt brings and aims to encourage people to make that crucial first step, accept their situation, and reach out for help.

The challenge is to stop the ‘head in the sand’ mentality which typically causes problems to snowball until they can be hard to rectify.

Let’s Talk About Debt

Find out more at payplan.com/ letstalkaboutdebt

A ‘sort it tomorrow’ approach to debt never works. We get many calls from people who have buried their head in the sand for, in some cases, years, hoping that the problem will go away.

There are so many people who we would class as ‘barely getting by’ each month. Inevitably they reach a tipping point, which can be as simple as the car failing its MoT or an unexpected tax bill. Then they start struggling to pay for the basics like food and heating. The important thing is to reach out for help before things get to this stage.

Speak to a free debt advice organisation such as PayPlan. Remember – you don’t need to deal with this alone.

Don’t suffer in silence If you are considering extra credit or a payday loan, it’s a bad idea