Mr and Mrs Keble got married in 1987, and began to borrow at that time in order to fund the move and setting up a new home. They used credit cards. At that time they were on a lower wage than currently, so found themselves turning to credit cards more and more, particularly when their children were born. They have three children, and this has meant that they have spent a significant length of time on a single income while Mrs Keble was on maternity leave and looking after young children, which compounded the problem. Before long they began to rob Peter to pay Paul. Gradually their debts built up, particularly on their Lloyds TSB credit cards, until 2005 when their level of debt reached £25000.

In October 2005, Mr and Mrs Keble decided to consolidate their debts by taking a £20000 loan with Lloyds TSB and a credit card with them as well, which was used to transfer the remaining £5000 of debt. Unfortunately this just made matters worse, and they began to live in their overdrafts as the repayments were more than they could afford. In 2006 they needed to purchase a car so that Mrs Keble could get to work, and ended up adding £4500 on to Mr Keble’s Lloyds credit card for this purpose. Things began to spiral out of control at this point, and they came to Debt Made Simple for help. We helped them propose an IVA, which was a way they could have the majority of their debt written off and still avoid bankruptcy. Their IVA was accepted and they are now well on the way to debt freedom, and very happy that they came to Debt Made Simple when they did. If you think an IVA may be for you, contact us.

Mr and Mrs Bowing’s debts began in 2002 when their daughter was born. They were hit with big bills from childcare and covering low income during the maternity period, and ran up around £10000 on credit cards over the first few years.

However, they were both in well-paid jobs and covering the repayments did not seem to be a problem. In January 2003 Mr Bowing took two £5000 loans, one with Lombard and one with Abbey, in order to consolidate some of his debt and purchase an automatic car, which he needed due to a knee injury. This was simple money management and seemed to work very well at first.

Unfortunately, in July 2004 Mrs Bowing had to leave her well-paid job due to ill health, and ended up losing her job. During this period they were reduced to a single income, and this had a strong impact on their financial situation. In addition, when she found a new job it was not nearly as well paid. Their debts increased to around £20000 as a result of this, and they fell into a downward spiral.

Their debts slowly mounted through robbing Peter to pay Paul, and things went from bad to worse. In the beginning of 2006, the final straw was that Mrs Bowing suffered another income gap. They realised the situation was not going to get any better, and came to Debt Made Simple for advice. We helped them propose an IVA and it was accepted. Their debts are now fully under control and they are looking forward to having around 70% of their debt written off. If you would like to find out more about the IVA, contact us.

Mr and Mrs Redbuck’s financial difficulties began in 2003 when they moved into rented accommodation together. Mr Redbuck had built up around £20000 of debt prior to them getting together, and Mrs Redbuck owed maybe £4000. All of this was on credit cards, apart from one loan in Mr Redbuck’s name with HSBC for around £10000. None of this debt felt like a problem – they could easily afford the repayments and were simply viewing the debt as a useful credit facility.

The rental agreement which they had in place was brought to an abrupt end by their landlord, and this meant that they had to move within three months of receiving notice. Both Mr & Mrs Redbuck were reluctant to move outside of Brighton as they felt that this would mean moving their children from their current schools, and this would have had a negative effect on the children’s education .

It was at this point in that they decided to move from rented accommodation into their first house. This meant they had to find a £12500 deposit which they borrowed from their family, and later repaid with a loan from Egg. This also  increased  the amount which they were paying monthly both in a new mortgage payment and subsequent insurances. Alongside this, the house which they managed to secure at short notice required refurbishment, and although this was in the main completed by Mrs Redbuck’s  father, the cost to them for a new kitchen, bathroom and diner was approx £10k. This was financed using credit cards.

Within two months of Mr and Mrs Redbuck moving into their new home the business that they both worked for took a turn for the worse and their monthly bonuses stopped with little notice. This meant they lost approximately £300- £400 each month and they struggled to make ends meet on a monthly basis. They had set costs with the upbringing of two children and the only way which they could survive on a monthly basis was by taking out a secured loan with First Plus for £64000. This was in 2005. They used all this money to consolidate all their unsecured debt. The agreed value of these instalments were £550, however these have now increased to £690 due to the recent increases in the various rates pushing them further into debt.

With the agreement in place, they began to move in the right direction only to be told by the organisation who pays them their  tax credits that there was a period of overpayment three years prior and they now owed them £5k.  This meant that the payments of £750 which they were receiving on a monthly basis reduced to £206, as they needed to start paying back the £5k owed to them. 

With this in mind, they  needed to secure more lending with their bank, but with the average APR which they were able to borrow being in the region of 11% 9 (due to the amount they had already borrowed) the monthly instalments began to become unmanageable. It was at this point that they first sought some independent advise regarding their finances, but at costs of £150 for each piece of advise they soon stopped.

Mrs Redbuck gave birth to their third child in August last year, and this meant a period of 4 months away from work as well as a part time role within the company that they work for (along with a pro-rata salary reduction). They now found themselves having to pay credit cards once every three months to ensure that each business got some money on a regular basis.

Mr & Mrs Redbuck were no longer in a position where they were able to meet the creditors’ minimum payments and pay for reasonable living expenses. The situation placed them under  a lot of pressure and stress and resulted in Mr Redbuck taking time away from work with stress and mild depression. Mr and Mrs Redbuck wished to avoid the complications of bankruptcy and pay their creditors more, but they had no idea how to get out of the hole. They came to Debt Made Simple for help and we suggested the option of an IVA. They were amazed at the possibility of getting so much debt written off. They decided to go for it, and their IVA was accepted. Their lives were instantly far more stress-free, and they are on the way to debt freedom. If you are interested in what we can do for you, contact us.