Dave (49) owed about £55,000 worth of debt to creditors when he reached out to PayPlan for help, over 10 years ago.

As a family, their debt problems started when his wife who at the time was working as a hairdresser, didn’t get maternity pay throughout the birth of their two children. When she was off work, they turned to loans and credit in order to supplement her income.

He said: “We thought the path would always be rosy and be easy, because it always had been up until then. We were managing. But I never sat down and wrote down what I owed. I didn’t budget for anything, because I just thought what comes in, goes out. And we’ll just pay on a sunny day”

Dave said that the turning point for him was after one Christmas – “I realised I was going from one balance transfer on a credit card to another looking for zero interest. It kept going and going until I realised that I wasn’t actually paying anything off, I was accruing so much interest that I wasn’t even treading water, I was just getting deeper and deeper”.

One day Dave was looking through his Union information and found information for PayPlan and decided to give us a call. “From that moment on I was given encouragement and made to believe there was light at the end of the tunnel.. That I wasn’t alone.”

During the time Dave was in a Debt Management Plan (DMP) the financial crisis hit the UK and his personal circumstances changed regarding his job and his monthly income. During one of his reviews he was recommended to go into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA).

He said: “Every call I have had with PayPlan has been non-judgemental and helpful. I was scared that I’d be under the microscope and that every penny would be reviewed. But from day one everyone realised that with a young family we had to spend money – it’s not cheap!”

He made his final payment on 2nd October 2017.

He said: “It’s come to an end at the perfect time of year, now we can enjoy Christmas. There is extra disposable income now so we can think ‘let’s get something nice this year’, and that’s all because of the path that was made for me by PayPlan.

The joy I felt when that last payment went through, it was just a weight off”

If you, or someone you know could be in a similar position to Dave. Then by reaching out and making that first phone call to ask for help, could be the first step in turning your life around.

Contact PayPlan today for free, no-obligation debt advice on: 0800 716 239 or visit www.payplan.com