We saw a sharp rise in clients needing a 60- day Breathing Space to suspend or prevent enforcement action by creditors last year.
While gas & electricity, rent and council tax arrears remained the number one problem debt, we also saw a rise in people struggling with credit cards, water debts, and mortgage
arrears.
This is a clear sign that many people across our society are affected by the cost of living crisis, and are unable to afford their essential everyday bills.
We provide support with
Debt options: advice on all available options and support to access debt solutions like insolvency or repayment arrangements.
In our last financial year, the MaPS debt advice team managed to:
We advocate for fairer systems through networking and our R&C work:
A team of specialist Debt Advisers are on hand to support people who are struggling to manage their debts.
Last year we guided almost 1,000 local people through their options on how best to deal with their debts, support with communicating and dealing with creditors and drawing up a realistic budget.
It is critical that our service is available to all so we have innovated a new approach to engaging with local people on money advice issues. With an emphasis on promoting money advice tips and key advice messages, kiosks in public locations around Kent and easy access to advice via video calls and WhatsApp messaging, we hope to be able to reach out to people – encouraging them to seek help early and not to wait until they are struggling with debt.
Case Study: Janine & Steven
Janine is a disabled woman in her 50s. She lives with her husband Steven, who’s her carer, in a rented housing association property. Due to being reliant on benefits, both Janine and Steven had built up significant debts over the years.
The couple were looking to downsize to a smaller property that would be more suited to Janine’s health needs, however due to some outstanding rent arrears their landlord would not agree to a mutual exchange until these were dealt with. In addition, some of Janine’s other creditors had started court action to enforce their debts, which finally prompted the couple to seek advice. Although they initially only asked for help to fill in a county court claim response form, the first adviser they spoke to recommend a referral to a debt adviser for a holistic assessment of their debts and options, to which they both agreed.
Support provided by CANWK:
Over the course of 6 months, our debt adviser supported the couple to draw up a household budget, confirm details of all their debts by accessing credit reports and contacting creditors on the clients’ behalf, and then advising them on their long-term debt options. The adviser also helped Janine respond to the county court claim and assisted both Clients to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment to pay off their rent arrears and enable them to move to a more suitable property.
After some further consideration, Janine decided to apply for a Debt Relief Order (DRO), and the adviser entered her into a 60-day Breathing Space to stop any further enforcement action whilst the DRO submission was being prepared.
Steven has also decided to proceed with an insolvency option to deal with his debts, but some further checks are needed to confirm whether the too qualifies for a DRO or if he needs to apply for bankruptcy.
The outcome of our advice & support:
– Successful application for Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to write off rent arrears and allow a mutual exchange.
– Successful DRO application for Janine to write off debts totaling over £19,000.
Whilst work is ongoing to help Steven access the appropriate insolvency solution, both Clients have expressed their gratitude for the help given so far by saying: “Thank you so much for all the support you have given us.”