‘My partner’s crazy spending ruined me’: the ugly truth about coerced debt | Consumer affairs

JOanna Thomas* worked for the UK government administration when she got a reward. Her profits, as was the case since she got married in her early twenties, went to her only banking account: one of the joint joint with her ex -husband now.

The money fell to the account in the morning. By the afternoon, she sent her husband at the time to inform her that he had withdrawn everything to buy a boat on EBay.

Thomas, who is in the 1940s and lives in southwestern England, says she was working more seriously and difficult to continue at the top of the debt in which he accumulated with her common names.

This was one of the years of examples of reckless and financially dominant behavior, as well as emotional and psychological abuse, which infiltrated Thomas. “I was only 18 years old when I met him. He was ambitious and bright and worked hard, although he was always suffering from a mood.

“I just moved to the university. My only reference points were my mother and father’s relationship. They always had joint accounts, and my father was always responsible for money. I thought this was what I did.

“I was involved early in the relationship and then imitated shortly after.”

The money became narrow when her ex -husband now left his job to create a business and their death in their home with a 120 % loan to finance training.

“He started accumulating the debts associated with work, including obtaining credit in my name as well, to help keep things standing on his feet.

It has begun projects that cannot be completed. I went home one week and took the ceiling and walls in the living room and dining room. There was absolutely no way to finance the re -plaster on the walls and put it properly. Mot will not renew the car, will not pay the road tax, will go and stop somewhere, not pay for parking and get a fine. He was making crazy decisions, and I would clean. “

It took more than 11 years after the relationship ended in the end to escape from the impact of the devastating credit file. It is estimated that it paid at least 130,000 pounds.

Thomas experience is far from unusual, according to Lorjani charitable debts. An estimated 1.6 million people were forced to debt last year alone, according to a new report issued by the charity.

Co purchases are a form of economic abuse in which the perpetrator of the crime is used in dominant or threatened behavior to compel a partner, family member, or his friend on the money. They may put real estate mortgages or bills in the name of the victim; Convincing them to buy things on a credit card or obtain a loan; Or they take their wages or steal their money, and leave them no choice but borrowing to live.

A relatively few people realize this type of abuse, however, the father’s band believes that there is not enough to prevent it, or support those who pay the price.

Thomas is part of a “big minority” – about 12 % – from purple customers looking for coercive debt help. But the broader survey of the audience charities indicates nearly 60 % of those who suffered forced debts last year dealing with them alone.

“We have found that the victims often did not reveal what they went through,” says Jenviev Richardson, chief defender of the general policy in Stepchange and the author of the report.

“This was often linked to safety, but it was also associated with the fact that they did not even realize that they went through coercive debts, or that there was anything they could do about it.”

A small part – less than five – from charitable clients who have debts as a result of coercion, has been removed from them. Until then, credit grades have often been bad for years.

When Thomas eventually ended her marriage, she says that she had to leave her ex -husband in the family’s home with her children while sleeping on the sofas, because she had no financial independence or her money.

He stopped paying the mortgage but refused to sell or remove his name from the loan, which Thomas left trapped in joint commitment. He also refused to sign divorce papers. “I explained the situation, but the mortgage company said that there is nothing they can do.”

She felt that she had no choice but to put all the debts that bore a shared responsibility in her name so that she could be released from it.

Another woman, Anita, won the debts of 52,000 pounds in her name, by her abuser who used joint savings without her consent. They were left because of the money for her child’s private school. She was injured in the brain as a result of ill -treatment when her ex -husband tried to kill her. The school is still following legal procedures for fees, and it was Anita who obtained the provincial court ruling (CCJ).

CCJ, or by default, affects a loan, mortgage, or credit card, negatively, on your credit date for at least six years and affects everything from the ability to obtain a mobile phone contract to the ability to rent a property or in some cases, apply for jobs.

After years of leaving her relationship, Thomas offered a promising new position in a company, but as part of the application process, she was told that she would undergo a credit check.

“My heart sank – I had to admit this stranger, who would have become my manager, what is the financial chaos that was my life.”

Richardson believes that there should be an agreed approach to all aspects of economic abuse and forced debts-from its discovery to ensure that the victims are not reformulated by dealing with creditors, restoring economic justice in the form, for example, wiping debts and restoring the date of credit.

She says: “Even in cases where customers or bank consultants were told, there was a contradiction in the responses,” she says. “We have seen some people get really wonderful

In addition to funding in the United Kingdom, the father invites the banking trade Authority, and charitable abuse that escapes economic abuse, the ministers to hold an intended work team led by the treasury and the Ministry of Interior. It believes Financial behavior authority It should create an approach at the industry level of forced debts to ensure that all banks and creditors are prevented from the expected harm arising from economic abuse.

One of the useful steps may be to provide a service “Tell us once”, similar to what is offered to those who deal with the affairs of the deceased person. Many victims find themselves repeating their stories about mistreatment over and over again.

There was already a successful pilot in the “Economic Abuse Evidence Form”, which was created by Charities Money Plus in addition to economic abuse, which allows those who are in financial difficulty to register their experience and provide evidence, only once. More than 25 banks and construction societies Subscribe to accept. Stepchange is to see it to other creditors, such as service providers and local authorities.

Meanwhile, credit reference agencies say they are doing more work to help support those who have been subjected to economic abuse.

“Cooperation across industry is necessary,” says Sue Owen-Pailey, Director of Social Innovation and Sustainability at Equifax UK. “If someone is a victim of economic abuse, and the credit is removed in their name without approval, we can help inquire about these applications with lenders.”

“We can raise disputes with relevant companies, save time and distress. We also help people add passwords to their credit reports to obtain additional security, break the financial links with others, and add notes to accounts to explain that they were the result of bad treatment,” says EXperian, John Web, Experian, says.

* The name has been changed