Ann has been suffering from depression since she was 16 and says spending money gave her a “buzz”.
But when reality set in, and she realised the tens of thousands of pounds she owed on cards and loans, she started to panic.
At one stage, she had 15 companies chasing her for £55,000 of debt, turning her depression into a “mushroom cloud over her”.
“Some of these debts were sold to other organisations, and it was extremely confusing to work out who I owed what to and what I owed them. I didn’t even recognise the letters, which at times I was getting daily, and it all became very confusing,” the 58 year old said.
The debts started mounting up in 2010, at a time when she was raising her two teenage children.
“I was trying to shield my children from seeing what was happening, because I was embarrassed and frightened. It was difficult for the relationship between me and my kids because I was hiding things from them.
“The threats about people coming to the door would give me panic attacks and chest pains. I absolutely felt harassed – I went through a period of fearing any knock at the door because I was scared of it being someone chasing debt.”
Ann is now backing calls from a mental health charity founded by MoneySavingExpert, Martin Lewis, which is urgently calling on the government to introduce clear rules to stop banks, credit card providers and more, from inundating people with letters, calls, texts and emails about missed payments.
A new report from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), which is also chaired by Mr Lewis, says that half of those behind on payments say they’ve had suicidal thoughts.
Its research has found that 2.5 million people feel harassed by the calls, texts and messages they get from creditors, and this feeling increases in line with the number of messages that they receive.
There are no legal rules in the UK limiting how often lenders can contact people, with guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – the sector watchdog – simply saying lenders who are owed money should not contact people “at unreasonable intervals”.
MMHPI is calling on the government to task the FCA with placing limits on how often they can contact people about missed payments, and for it to set rules saying firms should use data to identify where customers are behind on multiple credit payments before contacting them.
Ann has since got out of debt after getting in touch with a company that helped teach her how to budget and which debts to prioritise.
However, she’s once again having problems with her lender after suspending her mortgage after going on to universal credit, saying many staff at banks don’t know what sort of guidance their lender can offer.
But she says the changes MMHPI is calling for would have changed her experience of getting out of debt.
“Much of the contact I received felt threatening and having less of these coming at you on a daily basis, would make me feel more level headed in the way I approached it,” she said.
MMHPI says it heard from lots of people who were behind on bills with multiple different creditors who were being contacted daily via different channels.
In 2020, the government agreed to change old laws which forced lenders to send intimidating letters to people struggling with debt, including telling firms to drop capital letters, and to use language that’s easier to understand and less threatening.
But MMHPI has switched its focus to the regularity of communication now, as it says there has not been significant change in this area for 15 years.
Mr Lewis said, when done well, contact from creditors “can help people to understand how much they owe and gives guidance and assurance about what they need to do next”.
“But some people are being swamped with phone calls, texts and letters from multiple creditors a day — that leaves them feeling overwhelmed and harassed, feeling unable to ever escape the situation,” he added.
“That’s terrible for the individual, poor for the economy as exacerbating mental health issues adds costs to the economy, and it’s unlikely to improve the chances of creditors getting money back either,” he said.
A government spokesperson said: “We are committed to helping people escape problem debt and have invested a record £90m to fund free debt advice in England.
“The government’s Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space Scheme offers those experiencing a mental health crisis the space to receive their treatment without the pressure of creditors. We are also reforming the Consumer Credit Act to ensure protections afforded to consumers are fit for purpose and to improve how lenders communicate with those in financial difficulty.
“We also want to help people avoid getting into problem debt in the first place, and we are providing significant cost of living support worth on average £3,700 per household over the last three years.”