Scotland Case Studies

Debbie from Dundee

Debbie from Dundee is aged 21 and lived in a rented property with her flatmate. She worked as a receptionist in an office which paid her an income of £11,000 per year.

Shortly after moving into her flat with her friend, Debbie lost her job and had a period of unemployment. This was going to be a struggle for her because she had already put new furniture and her share of the flat deposit onto one of her credit cards.

Since living costs for her new flat were already tight, Debbie had to use credit cards to afford to pay the rent and other expenses like food and her car. When she eventually found another job 4 months later the total amount of money she owed was £6,000 across 5 different credit cards.

Debbie felt that the debt was unmanageable and decided to call Newtomorrow. Debbie spoke to one of our team of advisors and we established that the best course of action was to request that Debbie’s creditors freeze the interest payments so she could repay her debt in a debt management plan.

Now Debbie pays an agreed sum every month to a debt management plan which distributes the money on her behalf. Debbie has now removed all pressure from her creditors and will be debt free in just under 3 years.

Lindsey from Glasgow

Lindsey is 36 years old. She is in paid employment and enjoys shopping, socialising with friends and going on several holidays a year. She found herself in a position where her debts totalled just over £8,000 in loans and credit cards.

Lindsey owns her own flat which has increased in value since she bought it 7 years ago. She found it difficult to maintain her household expenditure and the accruing interest on each of the debts.

Lindsey realised she was in trouble when she could no longer afford the interest payments on her debts and decided to call Newtomorrow. After the telephone consultation with a Newtomorrow advisor, we advised her that she could release some of the equity in her home by refinancing. This in turn meant that she could clear her debts and look at managing her finances more efficiently.

Steven from Edinburgh

Steven is 29 years old and married. He owns a house jointly with his wife.

He took advantage of a number of credit cards and loans. He lived significantly beyond his means for a number of years. Steven enjoyed two holidays a year and had two cars- one for himself and one for his wife, Jane.

He realised he was in trouble when he found himself unable to meet the minimum payments on all of his debts, and indeed had begun to use his credit cards to pay his other debts. At this point he had debts totalling £30,000, when he found himself in a position where he had no further credit available. Jane stayed at home to look after their two small children.

When he realised he had no possibility of repaying his debts Steven contacted Newtomorrow.

After a telephone consultation with Newtomorrow, we recommended a Protected Trust Deed, and after the proposal was accepted by his creditors, Steven paid back an affordable amount for 36 months, as well as releasing his share of the equity in his home (£5,250) after a period of 24 months. He also sold one of his cars for £3,600. The total repaid to his creditors was a percentage of the debt he owed.

After this period Steven was completely debt free and this allowed him to look forward to his future without the worry of debt.