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In our latest case study, we caught up with our client Maria, who wanted to share her story and help other people who’ve been victims of domestic and economic abuse to encourage them to reach out for support.

Background

Maria worked as a nurse until she sustained a brain injury in 2015. The brain injury caused multiple functional neurological symptoms, seizures, and chronic fatigue. Maria also stopped working because of the incident, which caused her to fall into a depression.

Without work, her monthly income decreased, which added more stress to her situation and exacerbated her condition and mental fatigue. As her situation continued, Maria could no longer afford her day-to-day expenditures, let alone her monthly debt payments.

How did PayPlan help?

Referred by our partners, Refuge, the largest domestic abuse organisation in the UK, we regularly spoke with Maria to build a relationship, which led to us asking for hold periods on her accounts. And we decided that a debt write-off would be the best solution moving forward.

We worked with Maria to gather important medical evidence of her brain injury and any other pieces of information she felt would be beneficial to send to the creditors for the debt write-off request.

We issued the request on July 4, and by October 3, Maria was debt-free.

Maria shares her experience with PayPlan in her own words

“Being a victim of domestic and economic abuse, I was left with debts I didn’t run up myself but were in my name.

“With being unable to work and my income in a deficit, there was no way I could even offer to pay a penny. And if I did, I would be liable for these debts that I didn’t cause.

“My credit rating was severely affected, impacting my ability to rent or gain credit in the future. I was in a nightmare situation.

“I felt nobody would believe me or be able to help me. That was until, with my permission, Refuge sent my case to PayPlan.  

“The team at PayPlan were patient and understanding and said they would do their best to help and support me through this. They contacted the credit companies on my behalf and updated me at intervals, asking if I’d heard anything from the credit companies.

 “If I had a letter, email or call from the credit companies, PayPlan would again contact them on my behalf and remind them of my situation. Eventually, the credit companies stopped calling me and gave me Breathing Space, which helped my stress and anxiety.

“I was so happy and relieved that PayPlan stuck with me through this journey. It took just over a year, and now all my credit card debts have been written off.

“I am so grateful to PayPlan for this, and I can’t thank them enough. I can now have a good financial future with no restrictions. And I am free from that part of the abuse.

“Thank you so much, PayPlan, for believing in me.”

Get in touch

If you’re struggling with debts, call us on 0800 072 1206. We’re open from 8am – 8pm Monday to Friday, and 9am – 3pm on Saturdays. Alternatively, you can visit our advice page to speak to us via live chat or for more information.