When Jilly Jacobs died last year, the bank informed her daughter that her mother had an unpaid debt of £149 in bank charges on her account.

Sally Jacobs ignored this comment from the bank as she thought that all of her mother’s outstanding debt was wiped after her death. However, three months later, the debt had grown to £393.69 due to the bank charging administration fees for direct debit cancellations. She was also charged for overdraft interest and £35 for an unpaid cheque.

As Sally’s elderly mother had only lived on a state pension, she had found it difficult coping financially during the last year of her life and ran up bank charges to the sum of £1000. Sally didn’t know how she was going to pay for her mother’s debt. The bank said that interest would continue to accrue on a daily basis until the account was settled. All of a sudden Sally - who had always been so careful with money - found herself discovering new terms like IVA, consolidation, debt management, and as the debt grew so did her confusion on what to do!

How did Sally deal with her debt problems?

Sally sought the help of a debt management company who intervened on her behalf. The matter has now been resolved and the bank have dropped all charges.

If Sally had not sought debt help, she could have found herself in debt with a bill that she never needed to pay. Creditors can send convincing letters, scaring you into making payments that may not necessarily be your responsibility. The moral of this story is if in doubt, always seek debt advice.