Life after debt

Helen’s story

Helen reached out to PayPlan in 2011 with around £65,000 worth of debt between her and her husband.

Starting her own business, it didn’t go as smoothly as she’d expected.

They will hopefully be finished their plan in November 2018 – they are looking forward to becoming debt free! This is her story.

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Nick’s story

One of our advisers, Sam talks through Nick’s story.

Nick had been in a debt solution in the past, which he had cleared but found himself in the same situation after falling ill and having to give up work.

He is now debt free, here is his story!

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Kevin (51) contacted PayPlan in 2001 with around £9,000 worth of debt. Kevin worked as a mechanic and had recently finished a relationship and was dealing with depression. His coping method was going out and partying and drinking.
“All I cared about was going out, and I didn’t care about how I got the money. I used to withdraw cash on my credit card, which cost me a fortune but I continued doing it anyway.”

He said:‘I used to live on bread that I’d got reduced for 10p and frozen – my cats were eating better than I was! I didn’t tell anyone how bad it was..’
It got so bad that Kevin had to call in sick at work one day because he didn’t have any money to get petrol. He was lucky that he had a friend at work who had spoken to their manager suggesting that he needed help. His manager directed him to their local welfare fund.
He said: ‘I had a monthly income of around £1,200 and outgoings of £1,600! I was stuck.’
The welfare fund gave him £500 to tide him over, and also directed him to PayPlan. When Kevin spoke to our trained debt advisers, we recommended a Debt Management Plan (DMP), based on his circumstances.
He said: ‘I vowed from that day on to always be careful with my money’
During his plan with us, Kevin got made redundant. He contacted PayPlan and we reduced his monthly payments to £11 a month because that was all he could afford.
‘All the people I spoke to were very friendly and non-judgemental. Everyone was so helpful.’
Kevin finished his plan with us in 2006, and he is still so thankful to this day for the support we gave him.
Brenda (66) reached out to PayPlan in 2006 with £17,000 worth of debt with multiple creditors. At the time, Brenda was a single mum with two children living at home. Brenda is disabled and is unable to work full-time due to health conditions. However, she volunteers in her spare time, carries out some therapeutic work which allows her to get paid and is also in receipt of benefits. She said: ‘It’s a terrible feeling being in debt. My problems started when I wanted some home improvements carried out. I didn’t have any savings so I turned to credit cards and loans to pay for it.
“Lots of people were offering me credit because of my good credit score and I just didn’t say no.”
She said:‘I don’t know what I did with my money. I’ve got nothing to show for it! I was just silly.’
When Brenda ran out of money she would go back to the bank and ask for more. She was getting one credit card to pay off the debt on another, and it spiralled out of control. After getting in depth advice from one of PayPlan’s qualified advisers, Brenda chose to progress with a Debt Management Plan (DMP), where she could pay back a manageable amount each month to her creditors.
She said: “The feeling when you pay it back is just incredible – and I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved in becoming debt free”.
Brenda has completed her plan in March 2013 and continues to put the money she was paying to PayPlan into a savings account. It was money that she wasn’t used to having so continued to use it as a savings plan.
She said: ‘You [PayPlan] did save my life. You’re not living when you owe that kind of money!’
‘I want people to know that you [PayPlan] are there for us. You support us!’

If you want to share your stories with us, feel free to drop us a private message on our Facebook page and one of our team will get back to you. If you, or someone you know is struggling with their finances PayPlan can help.

We offer free, no obligation debt advice to anyone who needs it.
Contact us online or offline via telephone and one of our trained debt advisers will get back to you.