Charities warn of debt ticking time bomb
2023 ж. 19 Нау.
126 402 Рет қаралды
Borrowed money and can't pay it back?
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At the start of Debt Awareness Week, charities are warning that more and more vulnerable people are being mis-sold repayment plans called IVAs that end up driving them into even more debt.
This programme, together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, has been investigating some coercive tactics used by companies to hook in customers and the problem is only getting worse.
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We pay crazy levels of rent for tiny, badly maintained homes; our transport costs a fortune compared to other countries; and food and drink just keep going up. Pretty much the only places we are cheaper than other countries is the cost of clothes and vegetables. Meanwhile wages are terrible with so many jobs on minimum wage. What surprised me so much when I was working at a shop during the pandemic was that they'll offer you a promotion to supervisor, but the wage only increases 20p per hour. More responsibility and stress but barely a flicker of more money.
Couldn’t agree more
Why I never take the promotion not worth the stress your mental heath more important.
@@katieturner5651 for real, I got a weekend contract at Primark in late 2020 after losing a good job overseas and having to return to the UK. They wanted me to apply to be a supervisor, but it was only 20p extra an hour, plus you weren't able to do overtime during the week during busy periods (such as Christmas run up) as supervisor shifts weren't available. And you had way more stress and responsibility. I didn't apply.
Food was cheap in the Uk , but housing is expensive.
@Weird guy it's very strange when you live in other places and realise how different our pricing is. I lived in Japan for a year. My rent was very low, maybe 25% of my pay and I was on a low income. In £ terms, it was about £250 including bills. Eating out and alcohol was cheap compared with the UK, but clothing and some groceries were more expensive. A single carrot was about 60p, but you could get a piece of frozen salmon for £1. Apples were huge and £2.50 each- there wasn't the option to buy a bag of small apples.
Poverty is an industry
… says some privileged internet troll who's probably never experienced the misery & deprivation of poverty in his life. 🙄 You only think you're clever, but you're not.
It’s one of the many ways the powers that be wage war on humanity.
@@sg-zd8eb indeed
Definitely
The UK is a business not a country. And the population is passive enough to contribute to it.
What a dreadful world we live in
You mean country... Sorry I mean business.
Time to eat the rich.
is this a reference to the UK or just a general statement ?
It's about time the people of the UK stood up for themselves
well to do that they need to be "RE-EDUCATED" because they originally where indoctranted.
Like they do in France for the moment! ✊ Asking permission to protest and holding hands singing cumbaya will not change anything and is exactly what our government wants us to do. The French will not give and made the streets theirs! We should do the same. "It is not the populations who should fear their governments but the governments who should fear their populations"
Russian gas is the solution but climate change scams will make people suffer and make the rich richer!
Standing up for yourself is something else then taking on a debt by asking others for money. People in the video don't even understand what they are signing.
British people are too polite. They will let vultures stab them before protesting.
My god this country is more and more medieval and cruel.
And the Labour party are only interested in fighting the tories culture wars.
Thats Tory Britain for u. No wonder the tories n the freinds in the gutter press want people to focus on the rwanda policy, rather than the bread & butter issues like this debt crisis.
History repeats itself. That's what Europe, especially England, is known for. Medieval, cold, backward, dirty, and barbaric.
Charles Dickens times, Chaplineque lives.
It's not just Britain. It's a global problem I'm afraid.
The situation in the UK is now like a living nightmare. It's horrible seeing people going hungry, living in cold, damp houses & reliant on food banks. The thing is, I cannot see Labour being able to turn things round.
I once knew a CEO of a insolvency company. He built himself a £1.5 million house, he had a brand new Bentley as a runaround car, a garage full of other show-off cars, holiday homes dotted around the UK... He was in it for the money and the bling lifestyle. He didn't care about his clients.
And when banks are in debt our government has no hard time quickly finding the money to bail them out...
Banksters
The other main problem with IVAs is not just the finders fees. The costs of the IVA are front loaded, so for the first year you are paying the company its costs and nothing to the debts. The debtors are often set up to fail, but if they can last at least a year the company rakes it in and debtor is back at square one when it fails. Nobody should do an IVA unless you have a house or a job you'd lose if you go bankrupt. Oh and there needs to be more mention of those debt advisers like at citizens advice who can spot the best course of action but are seeing their funding slashed by the government.
In other words, no one should sign up to an IVA unless they’re financially secure enough not to need one? Agreed. Looks like a scam. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau should be people’s first stop. But even then, you need to check that your CAB is NOT one of those that the government has infiltrated and now work to benefit government policy more than their client. I learned that the hard way, in a previous life. Granted, it was a different type of matter, but it was shocking to discover that the CAB person who said they were, “representing,” me, when we had a group call discussion between me and the company I was fighting, was actually employed by the government and NOT a volunteer. I discovered that DURING THE CALL, when she suddenly started saying things that were clearly against my interests. So, just make sure you KNOW exactly WHO you’re getting your advice from, and WHO they work for. Who pays their wages? When you know that, you know what to do. ✌️ 🇺🇦
P.S. I won that fight in the long run, but it took research and a bit of legal learning for me to get there. Your exploiters count on you not having the time or the will to fight back. Prove them wrong and you will win. Especially at the point where you started costing them time and money. That’s when they do the math, back off, and pay up. When it’s cheaper for them to let you win. If we all did that, the debt collection agency market would collapse, as there would be no profit in it. Exploitation of people’s need, debt and their darkest hours of life, is a despicable trade, however you slice it. May everyone in that industry be sent to the front lines of some war, where they might do some good.
When you say.. > Nobody should do an IVA unless you have a house or a job you'd lose if you go bankrupt. An awful lot of people have a mortgaged house that they don't want to lose.
the cab are vastly underqualified and rarely ever follow thorugh on helping people in debt, they also are massively understaffed. saying cab is an answer is outdated advice. theyre useless
Well I'm a qualified debt adviser at a citizens advice, and a lot more qualified than these shysters who try pushing IVAs onto those who shouldn't have them.
It is becoming more and more clear that part of the issue broadly is financial education at school age is critical! No one gets any education about handling money, debt, saving young. It’s crippling at times like this. Even people knowing where to go for help. It’s so upsetting.
Many incomes are simply too low in the UK. If your basic costs are, say, £900 and your income is, say, £700, no amount of education is going to solve that. Also, it's a myth that there's a product called HELP that you can get somewhere if only you know where to get it.
Definitely true, as you get older the education gets less useful and much more about conditioning kids for a 9-5 that keeps them poor. Nothing on tax or loans, it misrepresents the reality of life. Aside from English and a bit of maths there's nothing practical I use from 13 years of education
Totally. They don't teach this stuff at all. Amazing how many working-class people don't save up money.
@@manuelpalmeira7278 how can you save on a shortage of £600 per month?
In Ireland the maximum interest chargeable by a licensed moneylender is 48%, and for a maximum period of 1 year. On English tv there are ads for Everyday loans at 99.9%, here that would get them jail time!
The high % is because it’s offered to everyone regardless of their credit history or high risk so there needs to be a high reward
@@cjjk9142 We also have credit unions in every town offering loans at 8%
I never knew that about Ireland. That's actually amazing.
Well all the big banks like Citi Banks, bank of America , Chase etc simply created a credit card subsidiary and incorporate in the state of South Dakota where's there's no cap on interest rate From that state they can mail out credit cards to the other 49 states and be protected
They didn’t understand…didn’t read the documents…but still signed.
And then spent the credit money on themselves rather than some project that could potentially get them out of their shitty financial situation. these people will always play victim and blame the “evil banks and evil creditors”
I was almost fooled with one of these IVA companies, and at the last woman I spoke to told me the truth and I cancelled it there and then and the guy phoned me back and screamed at me down the phone that I was useless and he worked for free and to get lost. showing his true colours now had made me become debt free on my own!
Never feel guilty about being in debt I wasn’t & now I am debt free it’s been 10years I wish you all get there in the end
The timing of things are important to understand how there situation has occurred. Where they still having children after his wifes health problems ? I'm a social minded person but once your dependant on the government for all your income your child production days should ceaae. Personally I've worked from the age of 16 to 52, funded my own degree qualifications, I've now retired and am fully self sufficient living abroad.
The biggest debt issue is council tax.
What's a council tax? Don't have them here in USA
@@robertmitchell8630 its a tax...you pay to the council...
@@robertmitchell8630 its what everyone has to pay to their local council/district and covers local services- maintaining roads, streetlights, street sweepers for collecting trash, libraries, parks, some community services for elderly/disabled, police and fire services etc.
@@teainortakoy Ok thanks In USA it was a tax in order to vote But been done away with as it disenfranchised the African American voters etc
@@robertmitchell8630 ah ok and you're welcome.
as they always have done..... this is another benifit of 13 years of tories
Yeah your beloved Labour Party prefers to spend taxpayers money on a illegal wars
Mental how many loans, credit cards and even gambling adverts are offered to us daily.
Sad however most people below 40 years of age are financially illiterate. Have no budget or plan to attain an asset base and drifting piles of debt.
Why does no one take responsibility for they choose no one makes you borrow money xx
Really helpful and much needed information. We are definitely seeing people struggling in my experience.
I honestly cannot afford to be poor. There is no way I can afford that lifestyle. It’s too expensive to be poor.
Problem is our wages goes up by 10p and our beloved landlord increase rent 10-21%. They make sure we never allowed to save to get a foot on housing ladder. Councils are setting up there own private companies to rip us off its called affordable housing. Rent may be low but their service charges are 20%. On top of that Councils put new HMO license rules on private landlord who are just passing the bills to tenants which increases private sector rent. Last dacades in London lots of student accommodation were built. Some students used to jointly rent from private landlords. Corporate companies who built those students accommodation they must have lobbied the Government to pass a law only family members are allowed to be considered as a household. Now those students are forced to live on those student accommodation who charges extortionate amount of rent. Plus food/energy price inflation is destroying families.This country is full of greedy morons who see other human being a tool for exploitation and profit maker.
The aim of the HMO regulation is good. But it is used as a cash cow without noticeable benefits. It costs thousands a house per year, a few hundred quid per unit, for 5 people, in London. And another licence for renting out any dwellings. Two licences to the local council. And they apply ambiguous rules that are applicable to guest house on shared house, like emergency lighting that is permanently on with green light, inflate the cost even more. It is reducing the supply of legal shared house. People need somewhere to live. The councils are pushing an average renter into illegal rental.
It's not the landlord. It's the banks increasing interest rates which has a knock on effect. Hey! Someone needs to pay for the Ukraine war and COVID lockdown handouts.
Wages by 10p - that's shocking. Every low paid job round my way has had to increase the pay by at least a pound an hour over the last year and some are doing the same again this April. Not enough still, but better then a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!
I think it's awful that people feel embarrassed and shame about being in debt when sooo much of our consumer society is geared around leading people into debt and it has been the case since the 50's. To put this into perspective the Uk is currently in 2.5 billion pounds of public sector debt. In 2006 the uk finally paid off its WW1 & WW2 debts. So if the top executives that run our country cannot do so without having to manage debt, (and have their heads held high) no one should ever feel embraced or ashamed about being in debt. Debt has been carefully and deliberately woven into our culture and society since the Industrial Revolution and then really got going after the birth of the consumerist society (Starting with Higher Purchase, "can't afford something, no problem, have it now pay later" It is based on the business model that finance companies can get rich from the interest! ..........Don't ever feel bad about debt!!!
I'm not in debt and neither is any of my family.
@@badda_boom8017 well then, none of what I said applies to you then does it .....🤦♂
@@badda_boom8017- I'm debt and so is my wife!
@@badda_boom8017good for you, what’s your point?
@@leonhenry4861 read the original post.
The very first place you should go is CAB they always put you in touch with reliable people who can legitimately help you out. Its sad that we have to rely on a charity to help when banks with a so much bigger income wont give the same advice and support!
I agree with the going to CAB. However they often refer you to places like stepchange who forcing IVAs and DMPs (debt management plans). They even using exact words used by scammers in this report to push them on clients.
@@martinrolecek8837 Stepchange is a debt charity who are excellent. Remember that it's your debtor that has to agree to the proposals. They have helped some good friends of mine with a DMP. Their debtors froze the interest and they paid just £5 per month per debt.
Should go after people at the head of the company selling these dodgy debt managements lock em up and fine em
Tbh it’s perfectly within their right to sell the debt they need to earn too. these people are still going to own money it doesn’t matter to who. They could’ve contacted their creditors and made a plan with them before it got sold to someone else and when it does get sold they usually ask about 30% of what they own anyway if they can pay directly. People in debt are often scared to contact their creditors or have a hostile attitude towards them but they still owe the money. These problems could easily be solved before it got to bailiffs etc if they showed they were willing to pay at least a little bit regularly
That guy could work, if you don't work then you are bound to have money problems.
Student here, for the last two weeks I have also lived on whatever is in my fridge/freezer. I have one shelf. There's nothing.
@left_blank what job ?
@left_blank there is no jobs in the market
Maybe cleaner job ? For now
Stop whinging and get a frickin' job. By the time I had just turned 17 I was out earning, and still at it age 56 .And don't tell me there aren't jobs out there. There ARE. It's that so many are WAY too picky and think the worlds owes them a living. It doesn't
@@mandalorian3865 Absolute RUBBISH!There ARE jobs, you just don't want to work for a living.
This is one of many reasons why I most likely won't be disgustingly wealthy, because I don't think it's in me to profit and seek opportunities where many people are suffering and ripe for the picking.
There's more ways to skin a cat...
That’s not the way to get rich 😂😂😂, you can invest in funds that invest in ethically sustainable businesses. So nobody is being exploited. Scottish widows has a fund that does that. Hope that helps.
White Americans still owe us forty acres and a mule forget the mule It's forty acres and a Cadillac For all the pre eminence in science England is nothing but a nation of cut throat pirates and as for France a den of thieves President Thomas Jefferson
People just don’t know the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want.’
Living in the UK is as soon as you get your salary and pay your bills you are left with £100 for the month
Bit optimistic. Most will be left with minus lol
@@leonhenry4861 very optimistic 😭
@@brittany1370 lol. It’s a shame the government only care about the top 2% of earners.
£100 you are lucky!
Lots of people in debt just do not know what to do to get out of debt - so they think borrowing more is the answer - there needs to be more advertising to show these people where to go to find the right help. The CAB is always very helpful.
The governments of the world set the example of that strategy (borrowing more).....
I was very lucky for inheriting an amount when my dad passed. If i didn't got that i would still be in debt Paid off 30k all at once felt great.
Debt companies prey on the vulnerable.....really!
Thank you
Good journalism!
The #FrontlinePBS series has an episode on this subject which is a big problem across the Pond. Thank you Channel 4, for covering this debt crisis. It seems the banks get bailed out instantly no matter what they have done, but people, actual children of God, get ignored.
People must take responsibility for their own debts…..wasters…
We teach things in school 99% of people will never need to use. But we don’t spend anywhere near enough time on budgeting. If people could budget 90% of these cases would disappear. If you can’t understand something why sign it without asking a friend to read through.
It was taught in schools, called 'Home Economics' but for some reason devolved to just cooking and baking. smbh.
It will get worse before it gets better.
FCA complaining about ‘unscrupulous’ acts committed by firms. They’re the Financial Conduct Authority. What do you think your job is?
Its the people who let you get into debt .that should be prosecuted
hows its the debt peoples fault they offer a contact that no one reads and thats at your own fault not the providers ..... if your in a situation where you cant pay monthly bills last thing you need is a loan .... little thinking goes along way
which is often, themselves
People in debt is how they make record profits.
@@WookiRahh in a world where its easier to blame someone for whats clearly their own fault.. its not like these companies go around, just handing out debt.. without people signing up and seeking these providers in the first place
One way People are getting into debt is by not having a prepayment meter. When they get their bill all at once, Some companies change some of their customers to prepayment but the customers don't like it.
Remember in school when we wasted time leaning about the Beatles in Music class? Would of loved to of learned a bit of this earlier on
God please us strength for them and me , I’m just financial struggling! But hope everything will be better soon ! Next month
Why can't he earn an extra £80 a month? You could weed people's gardens or mow their lawns on a Sunday morning
Not taking responsibility or accountability. Its somebody elses fault.
.there, you have a "Labour" MP making suggestions on what a Tory government must do to protect the consumers... How pathetic is that? They, "socialists", have come so far away from their original role as the protectors of the working class - now , they are nothing more than a slightly friendlier tories and apologists for the brutal global rule of Capitalism... " the crisis of humanity is the crisis of leadership" Leon Trotsky
Being poor is very expensive
Its the same game as the aggressive, parking ticket fines that you cant ever appeal.
You make lifestyle choices , get into debt ,make no effort to work , and blame others. “I don’t want that for my kids “ he said, we’ll do something instead of finding fault with others. . Blaming others is an easy option. He looks a bid strong lad , bit thick but surely able to work.
A lot of them do this. They talk rudely to and complain about ethnicminorities but can't admit responsibility for anything.
How about the banks charging 45% interest on credit card overdrafts as well or the likes of Very charging 49% interest on their buy now pay later
not only do the banksters gouge us with high interest rates, they pay us almost nothing back in interest on our savings deposits. we are being robbed.
they should do something about the benefit claimants that have NO health issues and NO job for 5-10 years...There should be a limit for how long you can do that. Country is a mess, make them look for a job....ffs i am sick of paying high taxes, be tired everyday from waking up early, commuting and work hard.
I am an American living in London past seven years Lived off credit cards Seems I am at the end of the road here Time to head back to USA
Work and save for leaner times and you may prosper. Don't save and live in ignorance
Most of them spent money they never had due to unscrupulous banking
Debt collection agencies should be banned from buying a debt for 10-20% of its value from a lender & then chasing a debtor for the full amount.
In these United Snakes of great America Many consumers settle a 10k$ deny for say 2k$ Then end of the year the debt collectors send the consumer and the IRS the W4 and now the IRS looks at the unpaid 8k as a capital gain and yup you owe them taxes
Lol why it’s their right
Here in the US more and more people are turning to credit cards to make ends meet and drowning underneath rising inflation... People who are better off are able to cut back but for many people across the world that's not an option.
Thankfully even with only Social Security as an income the only debt I have is a small car payment that I can easily afford. When a person gets into credit card debt it's hard to get back out
If rents weren’t so high people wouldn’t be in so much debt. Here in the uk rent is so high for a pookie flat that has mould will still run you about £1200 per month in the south and about 1k in the midlands. Wages are average at best. So it’s clear the system is set up to keep people down.
@@leonhenry4861 Same thing here in the US wages don't go nearly far enough to afford living in most places.
@@chrisaycock5965 oh really, I thought you guys got paid more then us.
@@leonhenry4861 How else would the capitalist system survive The idea is the Donkey chasing the carrot 🥕 If the masses could work for say twenty to thirty years of their lives save buy a home and retire the capitalistic machine would grind to a halt So the system doesn't allow one to live of savings Inflation is set up to keep you in the system Exactly why Hitler declared war on the monetary system
Economic investigator Frank G Melbourne Australia is still watching this very informative content cheers Frank ❤
Government needs to step in fast to prevent more harm.
The Tories help the poor? Hahahahahahah
Not just Debt companies, there's those behind all them Debt companies, corporates, some government institutions which includes the council, even the nhs give mediocre treatment compared to private hospitals, please..
Basic Nutritious Food prices are out of control. We have a ticking timebomb ahead of health issues and the shoplifting is going crazy. I deliver to Supermarkets daily and see that people live on meal deals. A Sandwich, Crisps and a Drink. What a Crazy World were living in.
I have no debt and in work but was rejected twice when I applied for a credit card. Crazy! Wanted to do online shopping as card is protected, unlike debit cards.
if the protection of the card is all you are worried about, some banks now have an option to create an online only card, you can freeze it or delete it any time if there are problems
Having a serviced debt will actually stand you in better stead for getting a credit card than having no debts, sadly.
I tried to claim a DRO. I was told I didn't have enough debt. It seems you need to be in at least £6000 of debt. Paying £55 a month on an IVA coming to beginning of year 3 out of 5. My debtors were only paid something like less than £200 the 1st year, most of what I am paying is going into the pockets of the firm I am paying. Couldn't afford bankruptcy, it costs at least £700 plus any court costs. Isn't it strange how if you are up to your neck in debt the solution is bankruptcy but if you had the money for it you wouldn't be in debt to begin with. Funny that.
There is no lower limit on a DRO so whoever told you that was wrong. It wasn't someone selling you an IVA was it?
@@lmknbhbiubjh Pay Plan. Capital One recommended them.
Get some debt advice from Citizens Advice. You may struggle to get through to them as they are really busy but it's worth perservering until you can speak to a specialist debt adviser. If you meet the eligibility conditions for a DRO then you might be able to apply but you'd have to to cancel your IVA first (and this can take some time) Get some proper advice before you make any decisions. And if you have been missold an IVA then you should complain to your IVA provider. Having said that, IVAs can work for some people. Yes you do have to pay fees to the IVA company but it is the creditors that miss out on payments as part of the agreement means you pay less overall. So if you are paying £55 for 60 months then £3300 overall. The IVA company gets their fee and your creditors get little/nothing.
What can be done about it?
Just send all correspondence back with another letter saying ‘No contract’
In Australia the Salvation Army offer a financial counselling service that will negotiate with your creditors and can work out a sensible plan to manage and pay off your debts and they don't charge a cent. Whatever you think of the organisation itself it is a solid, reliable service provided.
I’m not even allowed to borrow money I have tried applying many times lucky me.
if your iun a need of money worst thing to do is borrow it ... youll just end upp screwing yourself over in the long run
Ha ha ha ha ha me to, they say I don’t earn enough. So I make do with investing 😂. So far so good
actually lucky tho
If you have to borrow to buy something You can’t afford it
Ever had a mortgage Mark? Or did you have the money just laying around?
A mortgage is the exception, as it replaces rent. It's the general consumerism thar leads to unsustainable debt.
@@OM617a I don't think you've thought this through....
@@vulgar_scabby_beaver Which part? A mortgage being a sensible form of debt or consumerism being a cause of debt problems?
@@OM617a If you live in the UK you live in a service/retail economy, the UK is no longer an industrial economy. People do not have the liquidity to support an economy which is based on service and retail. Major purchases such as white goods, furniture and even cars are sold on unsecured consumer debt, what do you think would happen to these sectors if everyone waited until they could afford to pay cash before making a purchase? You can forget popping down to SCS to browse the sofas, it would be closed and the staff would be unemployed as would most car dealerships and electronics and furniture retailers. The 2008 financial crisis was not brought about by someone who couldnt pay for a big TV, it was toxic mortgage backed securities that collapsed the global economy. Do you think that a bus company waits until it has the cash on hand before it buys a new fleet of buses? The comment at the start of this thread is simplistic and has no thought behind it.
When in debt you are not free.Does British school not teach basic maths? These loan terms are extortion. You have to be addict level desperate to take a loan at such rates.
I once had a mate who was on payday loans month on month - no joke, every month he would pay off the loan and a week later he would take out another loan, this was going on for years, God knows how much interest he was paying as a whole.
This is Tory Britain.
Pure greedy making life miserable😢
Love how they refer to anything bad as American ("cowboy, wild west") 😂
JUST DON'T PAY ANYTHING YOU THINK IS UNJUST & TAKE WHAT YOU WANT! If this country is trying to rip you off then fight back with extreme measures!!!
Living in The UK 🇬🇧 is like a Nightmare!!!
Not just debt companies, council tax arrears too
Simple think about what you can afford and don't get stuck on payment don't spend too much money no wonder that people are struggling financially they should think twice about doing this and making sure that you have less money than ever before anything else thinking about your family first before anything else i live on little money I have to spend little money as possible because money don't last a month and I have to pay money to debt companys to pay them back and on time otherwise I will be homeless
They pray on people with debt. The term vulnerable is so over used. The genuinely vulnerable get loads in benefits and in some cases more than they would ever earn... They are about to get an inflation increase when workers are getting half if they are lucky plus £300 tax free. Everyone else is not vulnerable they are just useless with money, make poor choices and/or are lazy so blame everyone else but themselves.
Your opinion..
@@leonhenry4861 well they ain't going to come knocking if you haven't got debt... fact 1 Fact 2: they get generous benefits. We know this by how much people get vs a 40 hr a week job. In fact I gave up my job full time as an accountant when I had my 2 kids as I got 13k in benefits tax free plus other free things. Disability benefit is higher than what I get. Fact 3: benefits are going up in line with inflation. yes my benefits are and my wages are not. Facts not opinion. 😂
I agree with you.. Except that I became very ill and could not work anymore... I had an abscess in the back of my left knee the size of a tennis ball.. Four major operations in seven days later to save my leg.. I was three months in Hospital. So much morphine was pumped into me and I was released back into the world as a Junkie.. Even though I kicked it pretty quickly the after effects hang around for a few years.. I then had a heart attack and I have been waiting two and a half years for a triple heart bypass.. I am also an armed forces veteran.. But that gets you nowhere.. Before becoming ill, I was a Merchant Navy Engineer Officer on 55k a year.. So credit card debt was manageable. Now I am to ill to work and it is not my fault that I am on benefits and in the same boat as all of these other people. Just to say.. Be careful who you judge..
@@stevenwatsham5973 there is always one person that shows up in these comments who is seriously ill. That's fair but you must realise you are in the minority. Not everyone on benefits and in debt are ill. Some people are just lazy and make poor choices. Poor choices have consequences...
People should not be able to buy debt, at all.
And what about all these companies that enforce contracts on their customers e.g. An 18 month contract for mobile phones, if you default they close the account before the contract is up, then they charge you for the entirety of the contract then add on administration fees and fines so that what could have been a £40 debt ends up £440 and growing every month you cant pay!!. This is effectively charging people for a service they havent recieved and for an imaginary service re a contract. This is immoral and should be illegal. These companies just wait until you're in debt and then pile on extra charges. It shouldnt be legal!
I said this before, and I will say it again. It’s not the government or credit card companies’ fault that people go into debt; it’s a personal choice. If one can’t afford to buy something, don’t buy it. Yet, so many just put it on credit cards, hoping they will magically cough up the money later. This goes for food, too. Also, people choose to have kids. No thought about what it takes to bring them up. Many end up in poverty just because of the poor decisions their parents make. This cycle will only end when people self-reflect, and take ownership for their wrongdoings. Financial literacy is so important. Educate yourselves, people. Then, educate your children. Don’t just sit there and wait for companies to explain things to you. Of course their reps will tell you the good parts. You’ll have to find out the bad ones for yourself BEFORE you sign anything.
Some people went in debt because of council tax. Then the council passed the debt to private company.
As someone who has worked in money/debt advice, I can tell you that it really isn't as straightforward as you are telling yourself it is!
Tbh start with little or no interest that would make huge differences. Imagine scraping it and missing a payment and these gremlin companies knowing your desperate and have no money SLAP on a fine that you already cannot afford
I live off the grid in Hawaii. I now own 3 properties.
We are very grateful that you live in Hawaii.
Why does Stepchange recommend IVAs when inappropriate
IVA's aren't the issue, for the vast majority of customers an iva is a great solution, the problem is that the fca is allowing rogue companies to trade ruining the industry for the vast majority trying to do a good job. Bulk providers turning a blind eye to non regulated firms offering advice and finding loopholes to buy cases instead of being self sufficient and generating them in house where they can control the advice.
As a debt adviser I see many people put onto unsuitable IVAs so they are not a great solution. In fact in my experience you should only do an IVA if you have an asset you want to keep. For anyone else a DRO or bankruptcy is a far better option.
governments and the BBC prey on the vilnerable.
Ignore them. Most give up when pricing up the cost to take you to court
Why should the rich be aloud to benefit him ff the poor in these hard times it’s a crisis and the government are just lapping it up ! We’re slaves literally it’s crazy ! The British people need to stand up to what’s right and fast 💨 this needs to stop 🛑
Taking on debt is an individual responsibility. Well and good as they use the bank's money but when the bill comes they bury their head in the sand. Live within your means. Either you increase your income or reduce your expenses.
Maximum rents and bills, minimum wages. RiP off Britain.
I’ve just got a final demand for 5 grand I owe the bank. A final demand, that means they won’t bother me again doesn’t it.
We need to vote Labour in. Although the problem with Labour is that they have an open-door policy for immigration. Starmer was/is a human rights lawyer and his mantra is open borders. So this will lead to even less properties for British people.
Bump bump
You must be rich to be surprised by this headline.
How has this been allowed? Not even America allows this kind of thing.
I watched a debt collector get set alight with petrol once! True story. It was quite entertaining 😉
I've worked in debt management for 8 years now volunteering as a qualified financial accountant at local CABs and local council. 80% of time it is people living way beyond their means and , although judging people doesn't help, a lot of people that came to the centres had made some bad financial decisions such as taking out a pay day loan just to buy their 5 kids all £100 trainers for Xmas. That £500 quickly became £8,000 by March. I do agree with the mass immigration driving down wages for the last 20+ years started by Labour.
Tell me agian why you need to borrow at extortion rates due to immigration? Really it is very obvious you can not do the math if you borrow £ 500 to repay £ 8000. Don't blame the loan sharks for Gods sake. it must be the foreigners! Are they jews by any chance?
Immigrations fault, of course. Nice to hear from someone who works in a local CABs. I guess that if an inmigrantes calls requestint financial advise due to high debt, you would just say to them to go back to their country of origin ? The issue is way unrelated to immigration.
What does immigration have to do with people making bad financial decisions? There a millions of jobs currently available that British people just don’t want to do , cleaning and carers for example. I have never seen a white Person at those jobs
Immigration has, in some sectors, driven the wages down. Obviously when there are more people available to do the work, there will be less bargaining power in terms of wages. But I fully agree with you. I also worked at CAB for years. I took calls and had appointments with people who were dressed in Nike and I was wearing Primark. The amount of people I met who got in debt "for Christmas" was insane. However, we were not allowed to point out to them that they didn't need to spend 2k on their kids every Christmas (credit cards and payday loans of course).
Could not agree more with the cop out point. The irony is, immigrants were more likely to be susceptible to pay -day loans in the early 2010s due to a generally lower standard of English and Maths meaning on the whole, the terms are more difficult to understand. When people cite immigration, it is more likely a regurgitation of the rhetoric of the new wave of right-wing media who like to focus on immigration for the cause of the Tory party failures (GB News for example) in the past years. There is an interesting debate on immigration, we desperately need workers at the moment, I would also be careful to assume that "I have never seen white people at these jobs", this is interesting because you mentioned cleaners when if you did a sector analysis you would find that most cleaners are part-time and mums doing it on their evenings to help support kids etc. I am all for immigration btw, however, I believe in planned immigration, so when the government wants to take in 250,000 people of working age, they should build at least 200,000 affordable homes to ease pressure on the housing market for example. The argument for driving down wages is also interesting, it depends on where you live and the availability of high-skilled work. I used to be a warehouse operative (in Doncaster btw where there is a low availability of traditional "skilled work") , I was the most productive at my depot by far, we had metrics, and when I asked about a pay-rise my boss said "I could get 5 people in this position in the next hour who are willing to do this job without asking for a pay-rise so be grateful".
good job eagle shanked corbyn - and we've got the Tories...they'll definitely protect the vulnerable...............................................
She knows all about lies and BS doesn't she? Can't even bear to look at her.
You don’t need anything off the government for your debts ! Just simply email the debtor and tell them you can’t and won’t be paying , so then how to deal with bailiffs just don’t let them in they can only make peaceful entry , keep this up for 5 years then all debts have to be swiped after 5 years anyway
There are news about they broke in and the police did nothing.
No personal responsibility....its always someone else's fault. .bet they enjoyed spending the money at the time
2008 every one has been encouraged too load up on debt by BANKS and policy /law makers
The FCA are going to ban fees, that's great to safeguard potentially vulnerable people in the future, but what about those who have already been placed into an IVA and have already had to foot the extortionate fees for a debt solution that as it turns out probably wasn't the best solution after all?
Surely they can do something about that in the same way they dealt with mis-sold PPI?
@Andera John I'm sure there are many ways that the issue could be dealt with, the issue is more will they do anything about it? The likelyhood is they won't.
Margaret Thatcher was such a blessing to the English people. Poverty as a permanent state in Great Britian henceforth.