We spend a day at the UK’s largest debt charity

Redundancy, debt and repossession were a fatal combination for Barry and Amanda Harrison.

After losing their jobs and dream home, depressed Barry killed his wife and himself, leaving their sons Aiden, five, and Owen, three, orphaned.

Horrific tales like this are rare, but with an estimated £1,460billion of personal debt in the UK, millions are pursued by creditors and struggling to keep afloat as the threat of a double-dip recession looms.

At the UK’s largest debt charity phones ring up to 1,200 times a day as desperate callers, from all walks of life, seek help.

We spent a day at the Leeds base of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service listening to ever more familiar stories.

First up is Rachel, a lively sounding 25-year-old from Nottingham, due to have her first child in N o v e m b e r, who feels her debts are "spiralling out of control".

She says: "My overdraft was the same as my wages – Jand then my hours got cut, cheques bounced and I picked up some bank charges.

"I now owe £2,000 to the bank, £1,000 to my mum, pay £250 a month on hire purchase for a car and have around £1,500 in personal loans."

WEEP

Rachel, who has split with the father of her unborn child, earns £7.50 an hour in a supermarket for a 32-hour week and pays £500 a month rent and council tax. She fears she will soon have to stop work and needs clothes for her baby. She weeps.

A cccs operator advises her to switch banks so her wages are not immediately swallowed by her overdraft and make loan repayments via standing order rather than direct debits so she can control the amounts.

Banks and lenders keen to have their money back are known to grab it all at once – leaving the debtor unable to afford day-to-day living and, in some cases, suicidal.

One recruit from that industry is Gemma Spencer, 28, who was made redundant by HBOS. She said: "It’s ironic that I used to work for a firm that gave out credit cards and helped fuel the credit crunch.

"Now I speak to people every day who owe the bank over unpaid debts."

Louise Goad, CCCS helpline manager, leads a 105 strong team in Yo r k s h i r e , supported by an online service which can handle up to five million enquiries. One of the most experienced answering the phones is Chris Chalmers, who was once called by a man with £325,000 of debt on 59 credit cards. She says: "I never fail to get moved when a grown man cries. They’re often embarrassed to admit the extent of their problems, even to themselves.

"I get people who have no idea how much they owe as they have stopped answering their phones and opening post. We tell them to open letters and tackle the problem. A lot just pay bills without looking at them until the money runs out when they could have been saving money with simple steps."

Source: mirror.co.uk