Forgive us our debts

Government debt is often in the news; the government owes over 1.6 trillion to it’s creditors and that debt grows by about £160 million a day! It is less often reported that UK household debt is not far behind.  Last October it hit a new record high of over 1.5 trillion!  Again net lending to individuals in the UK is increasing rapidly rising by £158 million a day… the figures seem unreal.

Some of the impact of that debt is easy to see: EVERY DAY in the UK 25 properties are repossessed, 264 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt, 2,012 County Court Judgements (CCJs) are issued against people who have defaulted on personal debts and 4,002 new debt problems are dealt with by the CAB… EVERY DAY! 

However, a lot the problems debt causes are hidden and not as easily measured.  According to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service more than 80% of people with debt problems say that their financial difficulties are having a negative effect on their lives, creating tensions in their relationships, affecting their health and their ability to carry out their work.  The Children’s Society say that 9 out of 10 families in problem debt have had to cut back on essentials like food or clothing for their children in order to keep up with repayments.

Many people are living at the edge of their ability to keep up with repayments and it only takes a change in circumstances through illness, reduced overtime or redundancy and they start to default on their loans. However, no matter how much debt people have, they don’t like to talk about it and usually don’t do anything about it until a crisis hits and then every creditor is chasing them.

Through personal experience I know what that is like.  Back in the early nineties as a young married couple with our first house we got into a financial mess.  We were working long hours to keep up with interest payments and then overtime was cut and interest rates went through the roof.  Our credit cards were up to the limit and we were paying minimum payments, we had cheques that bounced from exceeding our overdraft limit, we got behind on our mortgage and looking back now I can see that we very nearly lost everything.  I remember feeling sick every time the post came, dreading another bill or final demand.  Fortunately a friend of ours gave us some great advice; he helped us see some areas where we could make some immediate savings, showed us how we could negotiate with our creditors to freeze interest and agree a manageable rate at which we could pay off our debts, and gave us some great tips on budgeting.  We followed his advice, tightened our belts and 3½ years later we were debt free, it was a hard 3½ years, but the feeling when we finally paid it all off was fantastic.

My experience of being in debt has made me passionate about helping people in the same situation and during my ‘vicar training’ in Leamington I helped set up a debt advice centre in partnership with the renowned debt counselling charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP). Jesus calls his church to serve those in need and helping people escape the debt trap is a key need in our day. There are some great organisations that are working to help those in debt, but the scale of the problem is huge and CAP’s unique service offers hope and a solution to anyone in debt. 

I am very pleased to say that we have a new CAP Debt Coach in our area, Richard Bacon. Working with the established debt centre in Leamington, local residents can now get free help in their own homes for personal debt.

Richard says, “We’re excited to extend the CAP debt centre services to Wellesbourne and surrounding villages. A lot of people are struggling financially, and this is likely to increase over the coming months.  I hope to be able to help many local people and families, regardless of their age, gender, faith or background, to put their debt nightmares behind them and start a new life.”

He added that every client is visited in their own home, CAP does all the negotiating with creditors, while local volunteers offer support to each person until they become debt free.

If you are struggling with debt you can access the support of CAP by phoning 0800 328 0006.

We may not be able to solve the international economic crisis, but we can work together with CAP to make a difference in the lives of people in our communities.

Barry Jackson

Unless otherwise stated all figures quoted in this article are from the Money Charity