‘I was abused twice, first by my partner and then by my bank’

Having to cope alone but the abusive partner still has control over key finances like the mortgage. Photograph: Roman Lacheev/Alamy

A woman whose controlling partner’s abrupt departure left her with an unaffordable mortgage has accused Barclays of refusing to help her as she struggled with the fallout.

Sally James*, a mother of two teenage daughters, says the bank refused to restructure her repayments when she could no longer afford them after being left as a single parent. And when the ombudsman ordered Barclays to do so, it trashed her credit score.