We are Stoke-on-Trent: ‘Debt was a circle I could not get out of’

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In Stoke-on-Trent, 1 in 200 adults went bankrupt at the highest rates in 2018 in the UK and Wales. The BBC told people who were out of debt and who helped fight the epidemic.

The ghost face of a new customer arriving at the door became a familiar sight to Anne Riddle.

"They were very scared and usually moved a large bag (sometimes I carry it with me) that didn't open the bag. Letters that weren't opened due to recognition of shape and color or fingerprints occur very often.-Bury your head "

Independent fund advisors have seen more people throughout the city grow their list of customers on Stoke due to debts over the past decade. She also lost some ways.

"Suicide is as bad as people get when they are too old to live."

For two years, Stoke-on-Trent went bankrupt by most of the people who couldn't pay their debts anywhere in England and Wales.

In 2018, nearly 52 per 10,000 adults in the city (a total of 1,029 people) went into individual voluntary agreements, debt repayment orders (DROs) or bankruptcy. Scarborough recorded the next bankruptcy rate of less than 48 per 10,000 adults, and Devon's Torbay was less than 46 per 10,000 adults.

Claire, a nursing assistant for basic wages, went bad and got a loan at the end of the loan. When I went to see Anne Riddle, she didn't even know how many pounds she made. She lives near Ventili, belongs to Stoke-on-Trent's most deprived ward, and 45{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} of households have an income of less than £ 15,000. Her problem began with a loan when she was a mother in her early 20s.

"If they say they can borrow 50 pounds, you can borrow 100 pounds if you pay that money back. I'll keep going up. And I thought I could do it, but I realized I couldn't."

Embarrassed when she was in debt, Claire got more loans to pay off her growing debt.

"You're going to go on this trip? When there are a few people coming home from school, you do what you need to do. It was very easy to get more credit. And I just used to ignore how bad it was. I couldn't sleep with anxiety so I aw. Then I had to take a break. It was a circle I could not escape. "

According to a frank report on the Stoke Debt situation of the Financial Inn Crunch Group (FIG), about 100,000 people in the region have to pay a total of £ 80m to expensive short-term credit lenders. It identified low wages, poverty, poor health and low levels of literacy, numeracy, and IT skills as "financial exclusion, leaving too many people trapped in a whirlpool of debt and deprivation."

Stoke city council chairman and dog member Alan Turley said, “In Stoke, many people are very vulnerable to debt and overall personal finances.

"Many people live on the edge of financial disaster."

What to do if you are struggling with debt

• Trust them to be open and honest with their loved ones. They can help you deal with the letters you are receiving and budget your money.
• Priority-Calculate which debt you have to pay first, that is, the debt with the most serious consequences. Mortgage and rent payments are considered top priority because non-payment can lead to withdrawal or eviction
• Get professional help – There are many free counselors who can help you find the best way if you can't pay off your debts. Citizens Advice has professional fund advisors and other organizations that can help, including Stepmoney, Business Debtline, Christians Against Poverty, Debt Advice Foundation, National Debtline, and Shelter.

There are many reasons why Stoke was particularly financially troubled. For decades, the industry has been operated by hundreds of thousands of mining and ceramics, and has been run by the industry. But when the mines and factories closed down, Riddle says, a generation of people didn't work, creating a culture that doesn't lie as "third and fourth generation people."

Instead of lost industries, distribution centers that pay the minimum wage are emerging as large corporations. The average full-time salary for urban workers is 24,907 pounds, nearly 5,000 pounds below the national average. According to Julie Prendergast of the City Citizens' Counseling Bureau, many said they see people every day while worrying about money.

"There are more and more people who used to be all credit and unsecured loans, but now they haven't got enough money to prioritize. So mortgage repayments and council tax returns," she says.

"Changes to the pay system didn't help. You can't always manage the basics even if someone has a job."

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Joe knows that feeling. The 22-year-old warehouse employee was tempted by a kind of lender that replaced many payday lenders.

"It was very easy," he said. "I applied through where I was working to get a loan that would be withdrawn through wages and on the weekend there was 3,000 pounds in the bank."

Joe fixed his car and went on his first vacation. But he began to borrow more until the debt increased to about 8,500 pounds.

"I had a problem because I had a hard time trying to solve the problem. I couldn't tell you that my family was in debt. I knew I would wake up every morning."

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A cafe for lonely friends

Clare's family was unhealthy at the age of 45 and realized the extent of the problem after a stroke, at which point they began to open many threat letters coming through letterbox.

"They said you should do something about this," Anne said. "I don't know how I can cope without her. Many friends are in the same situation and have to get help from them."

"Now I'm relieved. I can sleep more quietly. It was a terrible time and I hope it's not so bad."

Joe and Clare eventually sought help and are customers of Riddle Ms. They are now ordered to forgive debt, which in the end could see what they owe but will affect their credit rating.

It's been five years since the Financial Conduct Authority introduced more stringent economic checks on payday loan customers.

Also, interest rates have dropped the typical interest rate, and no one needs to repay more than twice the amount borrowed. The result is the industry's most shrunk results, with numerous costumes collapsed, including the most famous Wonga.

But this has made a difference in the market for more ominous lenders, Riddle says.

"By closing many people, we again got a big hand in business, working on the black market, and getting back a loan shark, which is a very dangerous situation for people without being regulated."

The highest age of personal bankruptcy in 2018 in Stoke was 25-34 years, and 58{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} of those who declared bankruptcy were women. Riddle says that while many are fit for a "low-wage, low-literacy" profile, others are impatient and over-spending generations.

"I think people have more problems with borrowing money. I think there are more serious problems today.

"Many people seem to have a culture that lends them without responsibility. Young people want it now. Rather than pay for it, save for it and get it later."

Pastor Malcolm Mycock fell into this trap. In 2007, when he was 36 years old, he worked with animals and began running a company that supplied equipment to the zoo. His attitude toward money at the time cost him his business and lost almost everything.

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"The business grew and developed rapidly and was quite successful. [but] I realized that even money doesn't make me happy.

"I'm starting to spend more and more time looking for happiness. It's more than just a lot of holidays, without paying taxes on time, paying VAT on time, and generally spending too much on households." I was living.

"I think it would have been successful if it wasn't for me."

Two years later Mycock was forced to liquidate and sentenced to bankruptcy. He said there was a misconception that it was an easy way to clean the debt.

"This is not the case. Often the debt will still follow you or be passed on to your spouse, the wife in this case. We still had to pay it back."

Bold and innovative action

In the end, helping Mycock attended an alcoholic anonymous. "I feel very scared, guilty, shy, and broken," he says. "I had a bad drink and a bad mental health. I couldn't see the way out, and life looked meaningless at that time."

After resuming his life, he began a new career in the Church. He is now a deputy of Bentilee and lives in debt in many communities.

To cope with the problem of greater debt across the city, FIG has a five-year plan. With 14 partners, the group says that the size of the problem is so large that every significant impact is "bold, innovative and above all, through unprecedented scale of response."

The business development plan will work with the school to ensure that financial matters are an integral part of the curriculum so that the child is trained on sufficient knowledge of the bank and the risk of obtaining credit. FIG also plans to target those who are struggling with going out into the community, rather than thinking that they will someday seek help by being at the gym or school doorway, for example.

"We do everything that contributes to the problem, from helping people start saving, from better education for the next generation, to talented adults who missed it, Turley says.

Turley says some people can live in their own means, but they can be limited.

"We must recognize that many of Stoke have been dealing with very low household incomes for many years and have not suffered debt, an amazing people they could not manage."

However, according to Mycock, those who are naive or desperate to risk will always be vulnerable until the risk of credit sales becomes transparent at the point of sale.

"Tele Dee and Radio still don't care about your credit rating, you can buy a car from us & # 39; or & # 39; we will give you a loan.{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} APR & # 39; "He says.

"People are still in use. People think it's normal. We're in a society that thinks you should have it now if you want something.

"I think I was there-this is how we live today."

Why Stoke is bankrupt capital in England and Wales: money box struggling with bankruptcy-BBC sound

If you need advice on debt management, see the BBC Action Line page with details of various agencies that can help.

This article We are Stoke on Trent, BBC projects with city people tell them important stories.