How we helped Grant find relief from his debt

Grant (name changed for confidentiality) is a 49 year old single adult living in privately rented property. The client has mental health disabilities and is unable to work; he is in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).

Prior to the deterioration in his mental health the client worked and lived abroad. He had a good income and had been eligible for credit, but when he became unwell and was unable to work, he could not afford the repayments. This left him in a considerable amount of debt.

The client had sought debt advice before and had determined on insolvency as a solution. However, due to the level of debt, he was not eligible for a debt relief order and would have had to apply for bankruptcy. The client was unable to afford the bankruptcy fees and disengaged with advice.

He returned as his mental health was deteriorating due to the demand letters he was receiving, and he needed to progress this matter and address his debts.

What did we do?

The client was advised by one of our senior debt advisers. A full money advice appointment was conducted, which included a benefit check, income maximisation advice, budgeting advice and advice on debt solutions.

Grant was clear that he could not afford to make any substantial repayments towards his debts and that the pressure of making token payment was too much for his mental health, given the number of years this level of debt would take to repay on token payments. He was clear that he wanted to pursue insolvency.

We drafted a write off request letter to send to Grant’s creditors and helped him to obtained signed evidence from his GP about his mental health and the effect of having this debt on his health.

By this time several of Grant’s non-priority debts had been passed to one central debt collection agency. They accepted the evidence and write off requests and wrote off just under £26,500 of Grant’s debt. Once we had written confirmation of this write off, his total level of debt was confirmed as approximately £15,000, well under the eligibility criteria for a DRO.

We helped Grant to apply for a DRO, which was approved, writing off the remainder of his debt and allowing him a fresh start debt free.

What was the impact?

1. We helped Grant to reduce his debt through successful write off requests and then obtain a DRO to manage the remainder, allowing him a fresh start, debt free.
2. Whilst this process was ongoing, we helped Grant to apply for a charitable grant for a new cooker, as he had no cooking facilities at home, and assisted him to access the foodbank for short term assistance with expenditure.
3. Grant reported a significant improvement in his mental health knowing that these matters were resolved.
4. Grant felt empowered by the process and able to move on.