A North Belfast woman, who found herself in debt following the breakdown of a long-term relationship, has spoken out as the sharp rise in the cost of living leaves many others struggling.
But a s cost-of-living soars, one local debt charity has said most of its clients were already finding it difficult to make ends meet long before energy prices began to rise.
Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in Northern Ireland are urging others who are struggling with debt to take the first step in reaching out and engage with free debt management services.
For Maureen, 58, battling depression and spending money she didn’t have was a coping mechanism and brought her temporary relief but also problem debt.
“In a way spending comes with the depression, especially at night if you’re awake and you say to yourself ‘oh I’ll just order this and I’ll pay it off later’,” she explained.
“Basically, I was lying to myself and I was feeding a habit. It was a habit of temporary satisfaction — the depression and spending went hand in hand. It just kept getting darker and darker and I got into a downward spiral.”
Maureen said she carried her money worries alone with only one friend being aware of the situation.
“She used to despair and say, ‘Maureen you can’t keep doing this!’ I knew I couldn’t, but I just kept feeding the problem. On the outside I looked like I was in control of everything but whilst I paid my essential bills, I didn’t budget at all.
“I knew I had payments due on loans or on a catalogue for example, but I put dealing with them on the back burner, I didn’t address or confront my debts at all.”
Realising that she couldn’t carry her problem debt alone, Maureen decided to seek professional help and turned to her local CAP Debt Centre.
“I just knew I needed to get something in place. Even though this doesn’t happen in Northern Ireland, my biggest fear was bailiffs coming to the door. That was why I felt I needed to get a third-party involved and to sort my finances out.”
After coming to terms with the situation, Maureen researched her options and sought help from the CAP Debt Centre in North Belfast and Newtownabbey at the beginning of the pandemic.
CAP services are open to everyone and are delivered through churches across Northern Ireland.
The charity runs centres which help people improve their life skills, including basic money management.
Due to restrictions, most of the support Maureen received in order to become debt-free was over the phone.
“Because I’m on benefits, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make the minimum payments. At that time, I would spend a lot of time on the internet and I could see information on citizens advice bureau, but something just kept drawing me to CAP,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that at that stage it was ‘total relief’— I still knew there was a long road ahead, but I knew this was the first step in taking control and getting myself sorted out financially.”
“From the very first time I got the payment schedule, and everything was down on paper, seeing how much I had to pay in each month really helped.
“CAP have been the mediators in helping me sort things out one way or the other. I don’t stress or worry about a third-party coming to the door — they’re shouldering that aspect for me.”
Following a fact-finding exercise and a financial assessment, CAP applied for a Debt Relief Order on Maureen’s behalf, which was unsuccessful.
“It was turned down because it said on the form not to pay anyone as this would show favouritism, but I had gotten some money - and me being the person I am - I had given some to my kids and chose to pay one of my creditors. I was really disappointed,” she explained.
After looking at a Debt Relief Order, Maureen was advised to start on the bankruptcy route, a legal insolvency process that's sometimes advised for people in debt.
During this time, Maureen was also evaluating her wider circumstances and made the decision to move to England to be closer to her family.
“CAP have been the comforter in all of this. It’s like having a blanket put around you when you’re cold. It’s a comfort blanket to me and I’m so glad I made that first move and that first call,” she added.
A new poll has revealed that over half (60%) of UK adults with problem debt have used ‘buy now pay later’ services within the past year to buy items they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.
In addition, 79% of these people were concerned about how they would meet the repayments for these services.
The survey, conducted by Savanta ComRes and commissioned by CAP, runs alongside their new #BreakFree campaign across Northern Ireland aiming to shed light on the financial landscape and to signpost people to finding free debt help services.
Northern Ireland-wide, CAP have 20 Debt Centres and have been actively supporting people out of problem debt for 12 years.
Paul Livingstone, Partnership Manager for CAP in Northern Ireland said: “People using ‘buy now pay later’ finance often do so due to financial pressure and challenging circumstances.
“We need to help people see the long term implications of this type of borrowing. CAP can help with this financial equipping as well, obviously, as helping with problem debt.”
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