Funding for debt advice service transforms Tyler’s life

Citizens Advice in Winchester is a volunteer-led service offering free, impartial advice that is open to all. Its advisors help clients manage debt, access benefits, avoid eviction and understand their rights. Over many years it has received funding from HIWCF for its debt advice services and cost of living support.

For Tyler the moment he realised he needed help was when it dawned on him how much he had to lose.

For almost a decade he had been homeless, struggling with his mental health and drug addiction. He had moved from hostel to hostel in and around his home town of Winchester focusing on little else than finding money to feed his addiction.

But in 2020 all that changed when a council housing officer took a chance on the earnest, likeable young man before him and offered him a flat. It would have been a fresh start were it not for the debt that followed him into his new home.

Years of payday loans to tide him over but not repaid, benefit loans to supposedly balance his books and all too easy to obtain contracts for mobile phones which were quickly sold for drug money had left him thousands of pounds in debt.

“I was getting out loans here and there, and phone contracts here and there, and you don’t really think of the bigger picture and how it’s going to affect you later on down the line,” he recalls.

“I went to one phone shop and then to the next one and you’d think that because you owe them £600 they wouldn’t want to sell you another phone but they almost throw them at you and you don’t think of the consequences. I was addicted to drugs and I was selling the phones and going down the slippery slope really.”

While he had been in hostels he had ignored letters and given little thought to the consequences of not paying bills – after all bailiffs could hardly seize the contents of a hostel. But now he had a home of his own and a chance of a future – and he was worried.

“The worry that someone’s going to knock on the door, start removing your goods and taking your stuff was just such a weight,” he says.

“The debts had got quite bad. It wasn’t just one or two, it was water debts, and then the phone debts got given to another company so then they were chasing the money. I was getting letters every other week saying I owed a new amount.”

He was told about Citizens Advice and its debt advice service but despite admitting to himself he needed help, it was difficult to ask for it. “The thing that got me here was having my own place and knowing that they could come in and take my stuff,” he says. “I’m glad I managed to walk through the door, because it was hard, but everyone here put me so at ease.”

He was introduced to debt caseworker Melonie Williamson and began the painful process of going through the letters and bills to assess just how much financial trouble he was in. “I came in all uptight and I left feeling quite loose,” he says. “Melonie is really good at explaining things and she makes you feel at peace, which I like. She will tell you what you need to do, but in a way where you understand and you feel comfortable.”

Melonie recalls: “We had to get a lot of bills together and then we set up direct debits so Tyler was in charge of his own bills. We also applied to the Insolvency Service for a debt relief order to get all of his debts written off, which is not an easy process and took about nine months.”

At the same time she looked at his income and helped him apply successfully for an increase in his Personal Independence Payment. “Right from the first appointment it was Tyler who spoke on the phone to people, like the water company,” says Melonie. “We got Tyler on to the water company’s essential tariff, which is a 45 per cent deduction so that his situation was sustainable going forward. He did it himself with me here just for support and he has done so well.”

A milestone came when his debt relief order was approved, meaning he could face the future with the fresh start he craved. “To get that order was life-changing for me,” says Tyler. “It took away a lot of stress and strain. That’s all thanks to Citizens Advice, they do a brilliant job and there’s not a bad word I could say about the place.”

“Everything they’ve done with me has been a good experience and it’s also taught me a lot. They’ve taught me about managing money and food shopping because it wasn’t just the debts we cleared, it was going through what I’ve got and saying how much I’m going to spend on food shopping and electricity and those kind of things.”

Being debt-free but able to rely on a larger income – with the confidence to deal with anything unexpected – has left Tyler feeling more secure. “It’s worked wonders for my mental health, I used to be really scared to open the post,” he says.

“I definitely do feel more confident about the future. I’m a lot happier now, I feel a lot lighter. I’m not waking up feeling like I’ve got a million and one things that I’ve got to get sorted.”

He still keeps in touch with Melonie and says knowing she is there for reassurance is a safety net. “I feel like everything starts at home, and now I have got structure and stability,” he says. “I was homeless for about eight or nine years, but I couldn’t imagine staying out on the streets again.

“I didn’t want to lose my home and I knew if I just buried my head in the sand like I always did, I might. It’s like a never ending spiral, you know? Something had to give and fortunately for me, I heard about these people here and how they could help. Because without them here, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”