CAB deals with £1.4m of debt in January

Rodney Edwards • Published 11 Feb 2010 10:39 0 Comments

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PERSONAL debt in Fermanagh is spiralling completely out of control, according to figures released by the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB). This week, one Fermanagh woman has come out to speak to The Impartial Reporter about how her financial difficulties led her to have a nervous breakdown.

The alarming statistics obtained by The Impartial Reporter show that debt in the county has rocketed significantly in the last month. In January, 24 local people visited the Bureau's Enniskillen base seeking urgent advice. Altogether, the 24 owed a startling £1.4 million of debt to 114 creditors.

Debts reported to CAB in January ranged from three-figure sums owed to catalogue companies to up to over £300,000 of business debt.

We can also reveal that last year the Citizens Advice Bureau dealt with a staggering £4,523,162 of new debt in Fermanagh. Furthermore, they kept additional repayment plans for £4,940,107 of existing debt under review.

In 2009, there was 2344 enquiries about debt related matters for 596 individual debts while 29 clients were provided with court representation by Citizen's Advice at Bankruptcy, Repossession and Enforcement of Judgement hearings.

In some cases, although it doesn't happen often here, some people struggling with debts have even approached loan sharks for help -- a move that continues to worry CAB.

"Clients who approach us regarding assistance with loan sharks are advised to make contact with the police, as this type of activity is criminal and a matter for the police," said a spokesperson.

And right around the county it appears that nobody has escaped the terrifying hold of the credit crunch.

In an interview with this newspaper this week, one 48-year-old Fermanagh woman called Kathy revealed how she had a nervous breakdown as a result of crippling debt.

"I just couldn't cope. My money problems got to me. I was admitted to a psychiatric unit where I was assessed. I was there for three weeks. I just couldn't get switched off, I just couldn't get my debts out of my head. Even when I left hospital I was admitted again. The calls, the letters, the warnings, finally got to me," she said.

"In the middle of 2006 my partner left me. We had a lot of debt with catalogues, an overdraft and bank loans. We had a car out on HP for about £4,000. The entire debts roughly amounted to £12,000. I tried to deal with paying it all myself but I got into a lot of difficulties and couldn't. At the time I was offered more credit from a bank, over a longer period of time which had a lot of interest attached. It really meant I was only paying the interest from my payments. It wasn't reducing what I owed at all. On one of the accounts there was over £1,300 of interest alone," said Kathy.

The Fermanagh mother was "bombarded" with a string of phone calls every day.

"It happened every single day. From early morning to late at night. They were very persistent and demanded I made a payment over the phone. But they were constantly asking me to make a bigger payment. I told them the payments they expected were getting too high and that my payments were only going on the interest," she said.

But they didn't listen, and when they threatened repossessing some of her items, Kathy hit rock bottom.

"I kept putting the letters away and avoiding the phone calls, I wanted to hide from it all. I even considered getting another loan to pay off all the debts. It just spiralled out of control and I took a nervous breakdown. I was in hospital for three weeks and then had to go in for a further two weeks. Even when I left hospital I was continuously getting phone calls and letters. I even wrote a list for the staff at the hospital of all the things that I had to pay and all the different credits. I gave them the list because I couldn't cope any longer. I was dreading the post and the phone calls all the time." she said.

Kathy spoke to members of her family and then got in touch with Citizen's Advice in Enniskillen who advised her on bankruptcy.

"Straight away they started to sort out things for me. They asked me to bring in all the letters and all the bills that I had. They reassured me and said they were going to help me. They did help me get on top of it all. They contacted all my creditors on my behalf and explained bankruptcy to me. Declaring bankruptcy was hard but it was a big weight off my shoulders, it was such a relief. And I would never get myself in debt like that again".

The brave woman has chosen to speak out publicly in a bid to advise others of the dangers. She has this message for those who may be struggling with debt right now.

"Go and get advice. Get the help that's there. It's nothing to be ashamed of, everybody gets in difficulties. Don't ignore it," she said.

For free advice, contact the Citizen's Advice Bureau on 028 66 324 334 (main line) or the Money Debt Advice line on 028 66 32 00 95 (Open: 9am -1pm, 2pm - 5pm, Monday-Friday).

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 11 Feb 10

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