Below is a story which unfortunately is becoming all to familiar, if you have any concerns please contact Deborah McGarrity our Advocate Co-ordinator on 01670 784 847. Matthew’s Story Matthew, from Yorkshire, began borrowing from a local loan shark after giving up his job to care for his disabled wife. He went from decent wages to carer’s benefits and was struggling to support his wife and children. He was introduced by a friend to a friendly local man who arranged to lend him £20 to begin with to see if he would pay £30 back the next week which Matthew did. The loans began to get bigger; the terms always were 50% on top to be paid back the next week when benefits were paid. The debt was doubled each time a payment was late. Soon, Matthew was handing over most of his benefit money leaving very little to live on and pay for essentials like food and fuel. He soon began to miss payments for energy, rent and water as well as running up high cost legal debts from local companies. Matthew had always considered himself a relaxed and happy individual, despite his wife’s illness but became extremely depressed during this period. He couldn’t sleep much and the first thing he thought about when he did wake up was how to make enough money to pay back the loan shark and his more threatening brother. By this stage he was on anti-depressants, had contemplated suicide and was selling everything he had in order to try and clear the debt to the loan sharks who would never tell him how much he owed. On one occasion Matthew was given some food vouchers by a local charity - the loan shark took these too. On the day that Matthew finally made the call to the IMLT he was sitting in an armchair in his front room. He had a bottle of pills emptied out on one of the arms of the chair and his phone with the confidential Illegal Lending hotline number on the other. He made the choice to call us and believes that this decision saved his life. He was so depressed that he thought that ending his life was a sacrifice worth making in the hope that his family would be left alone. A year on from that first phone call Matthew is as happy as he’s ever been. The loan sharks were arrested and prosecuted and he was able to move out of the area with the help of the local authority who recognised how vulnerable he and his family were in the area they lived in. The family are now receiving the correct benefits, have cleared their legal debts and Matthew has become a grandfather for the first time. He still takes anti-depressants but a much reduced dose and doesn’t now take sleeping pills too. He is looking forward to starting some voluntary work in the local area and has enough money now to watch his local rugby league team, something he couldn’t have envisaged doing a year ago. Life isn’t perfect but it’s greatly improved and Matthew feels like a different person. If you or anyone you know are paying a loan shark you can get help by calling our helpline on 0300 555 2222 and report them in confidence you can remain anonymous if you wish. Loan Shark are illegal and can be prosecuted don’t suffer in silence. * Names have been changed.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:20:26 +0000
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