Case Study

How PennyPlan helped reduce a client’s monthly debt payments by £1,400

Many people assume that debt only builds up if you’re bad with money. But sometimes life can just throw an unexpected curveball at you that changes your entire financial trajectory. Like in the case of one of our recent clients.

This client’s life was turned upside down after she suddenly became seriously ill. Faced with rising medical costs and more than £100,000 of unsecured debt, she came to PennyPlan looking for a way forward.

The situation

When this client first contacted us, she’d had a really tough year. Before becoming ill, she had been working full-time in a well-paid job and was comfortably managing her financial commitments. As many people do, she had borrowed money at a time when her income made the repayments affordable.

That all changed quickly after she became ill. Now unable to work, she found herself struggling to keep up with repayments on more than £100,000 of unsecured debt. At the same time, medical costs were increasing, and the pressure of maintaining monthly repayments of over £1,600 was becoming impossible.

The client and her husband also owned their home, adding another layer of worry. They were very concerned about whether their financial difficulties could put their property at risk.

It was an extra element of anxiety that the couple didn’t need when already going through such a scary experience.

Our approach

Our priority was to start easing the pressure for the client and make sure she felt supported with a clear path forward. We took the time to understand her circumstances and her affordability for repaying the debt. From there, we worked to find a solution that gave her the breathing space she needed.

The solution allowed us to:

Reduce his monthly debt repayments by around £1,400 a month
Provide security and reassurance regarding her home
Remove a lot of the financial burden that had fallen onto her husband
Give the client a dedicated point of contact who guided her through every step of the process
Allow her to focus her energy on her recovery and spending time with her family, rather than worrying about debt

Ongoing support

The last thing you need when you’re going through the emotional and physical impact of a serious illness is to be hassled by creditors, with endless phone calls and feeling uncertain about your financial future.

That’s why we ensured the client always had someone she could turn to. Instead of facing the process alone, she had a dedicated member of our team available to answer questions, explain the next steps and provide support whenever circumstances changed.

Knowing there was a plan in place helped her and her husband feel more optimistic and gave them much-needed peace of mind during a very difficult time in their lives.

The outcome

The arrangement we put in place was accepted by the creditors, and now the client has an affordable solution that works for her. Her monthly payments have been reduced significantly, easing the strain on household finances and helping her family feel more secure.

When the arrangement is successfully completed, more than £85,000 of her unsecured debt will be written off.

Most importantly, she can now fully focus on her health and recovery rather than having the dark cloud of mounting debt hanging over her.