Chris, who became debt free through CAP, shares his journey with debt and suggests changes that are needed in the debt collection sector.
Where my story starts
I was loving life and enjoying myself. I loved the work I did—a job I loved—and would go home after a good day’s work and put my feet up, knowing I was in a good place. I would go on holiday all around the UK and see sights I thought I’d never see.
Then, out of the blue, one day I lost my job. In desperation, I ended up working for a fast-food restaurant, just so I could have an income—I was desperate.
Day by day, I tried to work as many hours as possible, just to tie myself over until I found another job. Day by day, I had no luck finding other jobs; I was stuck at a fast-food job.
Spiralling into debt and despair
As time went on, I found it more and more difficult to clear what I owed, until there came a day that I would never forget. The time had come that a debt collection person turned up on my doorstep to talk about my debts. I was afraid! I met the debt collector at work as I knew that if anything was going to happen, I could run and hide and hope he would just leave. I didn’t know how bad it was until he turned up. I don’t blame him, he was just doing his job.
That night after work, I went home in tears. I sat in my car thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’
I couldn’t go inside and face my parents knowing that they would be disappointed in me. At this point, I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I knew that the world had come crashing down. After making a few phone calls, and spending a lot of time crying, I went inside to my house and straight to my bedroom. I didn’t want my parents to see me like this.
Finding hope with CAP
After a very sleepless night, I thought ‘What else could I lose?’, I plucked up the courage and rang CAP—a call that I’ll never forget! I’ve never spoken to a bunch of people who were so kind, polite and respectful.
I’ve never spoken to an organisation who showed such humility to a person in such need.
As time went on, as I met and spoke to more people at CAP. I didn’t realise that all they wanted to do is help and give support I needed during my low point in life.
The journey to my debt free life
As CAP worked with me to become debt free, I started to become happier and more relaxed. During this time, I found myself a more stable job with better pay, which helped massively.
Then came the day I would never forget. I was at work when an email came through to my phone from the Insolvency Service.
My Debt Relief Order had been approved. I had a tear in my eye and felt the relief that it was all over, something I could never comprehend.
An hour or so later, I had a call from CAP, a phone call that I could not keep smiling through. The call handler said that I had over £500 in savings that they were going to transfer to myself and more importantly, I was debt free. At this point, I went on my break at work and sat outside. A couple of my colleagues came and found me and asked if I was ok as they were worried. I was honest to them and told them what happened, and they showed me nothing but kindness at work. The following day I went and celebrated.
Moving forward and never looking back
Then with the right support, I made the conscious decision that I never want to go back, but only to go forward in life.
One day, I woke up and decided that this was the time to go to university and get a degree. I didn’t know why, but it felt like the best time to do it. I wanted to improve myself and get myself out of low paid jobs. I couldn’t be happier. Since starting my degree, I found the perfect job—a job which worked around my studies with a very understanding employer who respected what I wanted to do and accomplish. Since then, I never looked back, never wanting to get back into that deep, dark place.
Looking back, I often use my debts as an excuse not to do something. Being in debt meant I was never happy, had too many sleepless nights and only took it day by day. Fast forward to now, I couldn’t be any happier! I’ve gone and done stuff I thought I would never do. I’ve met some amazing people who I thought I would never meet.
I have a much more positive outlook in life.
My message to the sector
When the bailiff visited me it was scary. But rather than throwing threats my way, he shared information about debt advice, and instead of coming to my front door branded in a ‘bailiff’ shirt, he instead was happy to come to my workplace in a discrete suit. Unfortunately, this is not everyone’s reality. Now I’m debt free, I volunteer as a befriender, helping others who are going through their journey with debt, so I hear the bad experiences others have faced.
Regulation is needed to ensure that everyone in debt is treated with dignity and respect by the enforcement sector.
With many people who in debt also facing mental health challenges, it’s essential that bailiffs and debt collection firms treat people with fairness and compassion. When people are treated badly, they should be able to escalate this and put in a formal complaint with ease to ensure it never happens again.
Have you been impacted by Chris’ blog?
If you’re in debt and need support, get free debt help at CAP. The first step is often the hardest one to take, but it’s really worth it.
Debt can impact all areas of life, such as mental health, work and relationships. If you need more support, there are organisations out there that can help you. Get support for whatever you’re going through here.
