YORK Citizens’ Advice Bureau is being inundated by people struggling with debt problems – including one woman who was so depressed she tried to commit suicide.
Chief executive George Vickers revealed the bureau’s specialist debt team helped clients with 1,149 debts totalling more than £3 million in the first six months of this year.
“The CAB is inundated with people coming to the bureau with debt problems, people who are losing their jobs or face losing their homes,” he said. “Others face losing their benefits as new rules are beginning to affect those who genuinely cannot work.”
Mr Vickers said a woman who tried to commit suicide was helped by the CAB to go bankrupt, which eased the stress she was under and she managed to resume a “more hopeful” life.
Debt case worker Kevin Butler said he was seeing worrying trends, with a growth in the number of clients using Payday loan companies to cover essential payments.
There was also a growth in the number of people whose only realistic option was bankruptcy due to mortgage shortfalls following their homes being repossessed, and a rise in the number of people applying for Debt Relief Orders, a new insolvency option which allows people to clear their debts.
“For most people, the debt problems are caused by reasons beyond their control, for example redundancy, a reduction in earnings or a self-employed business that has suffered a downturn,” he said.
He said anyone struggling could get held from the CAB or National Debt line, a national telephone based debt charity. He said most of the CAB’s advisers were volunteers, but money was needed to train them up and provide the expert supervision and backup they need. It cost £1,000 to train each advisor but that advisor will see at least 100 clients every year.
As reported in The Press previously, two CAB trustees, Nicki Mitchell and Adrian Widdowson, are running in the York 10k run on Sunday July 31 to raise badly needed funds for the charity. Mr Vickers said that so far, the pair had raised enough to train 1½ volunteers, but much more was needed.
• People can donate through cheques payable to York & District Citizens Advice Bureau at 3 Blossom Street, York YO24 1AU), or by going to the CAB’s appeal website at http://bit.ly/Yorkcab
Financial struggle
WITH Greece and Italy making headlines over their economic difficulties, it can be easy to forget that personal debt is of equal if not greater concern. In York, the Citizens Advice Bureau says it is being overwhelmed by people struggling with financial problems.
This is confirmation, if any were needed, that we are a long way from becoming free of the economic morass borne out of four years in recession. The coalition government may be right to impose austerity measures, but not if that means people have to lose their homes as a consequence.
David Cameron once said we are all in this together. Perhaps he should pay a visit to his local CAB to find out how wrong he is.
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