October 2020
Specialist Money Team Case Study
Client is over 62 years old, separated and lives in private rented accommodation. Client has no dependants but does have a non-dependant living with her. The non-dependent is claiming benefits and the client claims Employment Support Allowance, the client also has long term mental health issues.
Client has several debts, some very old and she was not able to refer what stages those debts had reached. Initially, it was difficult to identify what debts the client had as most of the debts were passed to collector agencies and therefore the debts were not registered with its original owner or management company.
Client lives permanently with a deficit budget which was creating new debts each month. Client’s priority debts were Council Tax arrears of £2000 and non-priority debts of £3000 to 7 creditors.
We aimed to maximize the client's income in the first instance and to allow her to self-help to the best of her ability. We assisted the client with utility bills giving her information on how to apply for discounted tariffs. The client also had some hire purchase agreements for white goods. We made a referral to a local charitable fund who awarded a grant to the client to enable her to purchase a new washing machine which in turn reduced her monthly expenditure. With support and information, the client felt empowered to deal with the creditors who were harassing her and negotiate with other creditors. The client was able to agree to a different payment for her car insurance, finding a new coverage more apt to client's necessity which generated a saving in expenditure.
Outcome:
The client started this process with a deficit budget of more than £100 per month and ended with a deficit budget of less than £15 per month.
Unfortunately, whilst in the middle of this process one of the client’s priority creditors moved forward in request of payment. To protect the client while she was still receiving debt help, a Breathing Space registration was started. Breathing Space (The Debt Respite Scheme) aims to help relieve some of the pressure of dealing with creditors, so clients can focus on getting debt advice and setting up a debt solution without worrying about being chased for payment or incurring extra charges.
The client decided, after receiving all the advice regarding the debt options available, that she would like a Debt Relief Order (DRO). This is currently being processed and we are awaiting the confirmation. Once the DRO is confirmed, the client will be able to live within her budget and live without the constant harassment and worry of creditors which will make a significant impact on her health and wellbeing.