11.03.22

It's sometimes very difficult to remember that success as a debt adviser isn't solely defined by the outcomes you achieve.

Those outcomes are, of course, the reason I do the job. The scared and confused woman whose Housing Benefit you get back in payment, along with a DHP towards the arrears. The woman who's been sectioned twice in the last three years you shepherd through bankruptcy. The refugee who's just relieved to know he can't go to prison for falling behind on his water bill.

And of course all those cups of coffee.

But often - all too often - these things are out of my control. Sometimes, the reason for that is with the client. Not necessarily the fault, but for many things there is a lot of information I need before I can make progress. Reference numbers, documents, evidence of this health condition or that non-dependent's income. And for some clients that's just very hard to find and provide. In other cases, the client's situation is just dire, but the pretty-inevitable conclusion of eviction or selling a property is completely unpalatable to them.

Sometimes it's the fault of a heartless priority creditor who responds to a deficit budget with a request for a payment offer. Or the fault of the unstated criteria of a grant scheme, which mean a client is prevented from accessing help by any one of several invisible tripwires. (While I understand the argument of throwing good money after bad, it does seem perverse to decline an application for support because of a deficit budget, when there is simply no way that budget can reasonably balance. That client will just remain mired in debt, with continued pressure from creditors.)

And sometimes it's simply the fault of the wider system. I have clients whose only realistic way out of their situation is insolvency - but they are renting privately, and have already found it incredibly difficult to find a landlord who'll take them when they are out of work. Adding another reason for a landlord to reject them is unthinkable. I have clients who just can't afford the fee for bankruptcy or a DRO. I have clients who give up when they realise their debts are going to go up by £75, then £235, because they can't possibly pay the bailiffs. I have clients who were just about keeping things ticking over before their energy company informed them of their new bill, which takes their monthly payments from a barely-manageably £60 to an impossible £100.

I know I make a difference. Sometimes I even get to put a value in the 'outcomes' column. But I wish I made more of one.