The Whistleblower - Watch Online Now

milliejon

Today's programme:

Britain's Streets of Debt
Thu 8 Jun, 9:15 am - 10:00 am 45mins

Losing It Online

Last year we gambled £53 billion and one million people bet regularly online. Elaine Churchill is one of them. She has lost £45,000 gambling online during her maternity leave. It nearly cost her marriage, her daughter and her home. Ex-postman Neil owes the same amount as his annual salary, money he lost internet gambling, and is attending Britain's only residential gambling addiction clinic. Online betting is now so aggressively marketed that even the government has stepped in to curb advertisers. But this hasn't stopped companies throwing millions in sponsorship to premier league football clubs in order to lure another generation into losing it all online.

milliejon

Today's programme:

Britain's Streets of Debt
Fri 9 Jun, 9:15 am - 10:00 am 45mins

Going for Broke

Shiralee Doveston owes £9,000 and is desperate to go bankrupt but doesn't have the £310 admin fee. Newsagents Mike and Sue Finch owe £30,000, are losing their business and could lose their home. They don't want to be made insolvent. This is the story of those ensnared in a vicious spiral of debt, a world of door-step lending, pawn shops and loan sharks. Britain's poor and vulnerable are paying through the nose for the privilege of borrowing and as a nation we currently owe £1.1 trillion.

lipidicman

milliejon wrote:

Shiralee Doveston owes £9,000 and is desperate to go bankrupt but doesn't have the £310 admin fee.....

....but she does have a 28" widescreen TV, a set-top box and a nice new stereo......

I don't doubt that life was hard for her but she seemed to be making it harder.

The only good things I saw was her food budgeting and charity shopping, so maybe this girl really had learnt the error of her ways.

The problem with the show was that if you had worked hard like the newsagents and had run into trouble through exterior reasons then bankruptcy means losing your home. If you have spent needlessly and have nothing to show for it, then bankrupty means a clean slate and cheering 'hooray, I'm bankrupt!'. The world has gone mad

milliejon

lipidicman wrote:

....but she does have a 28" widescreen TV, a set-top box and a nice new stereo......

I don't doubt that life was hard for her but she seemed to be making it harder.

The only good things I saw was her food budgeting and charity shopping, so maybe this girl really had learnt the error of her ways.

The problem with the show was that if you had worked hard like the newsagents and had run into trouble through exterior reasons then bankruptcy means losing your home. If you have spent needlessly and have nothing to show for it, then bankrupty means a clean slate and cheering 'hooray, I'm bankrupt!'. The world has gone mad

I was judging her a little whilst watching, but she seemed to have learnt her lesson when she said that the kids would have to wait for things until she'd saved up for them. It is terribly hard when you have kids, but at least they'll learn the value of money.

I was considering bankruptcy, but I would lose my job if I did and I can't risk that. But I can't imagine coming out of a very embarressing court room and whooping for joy. I'd just want to go home and sort my finances out and make good the fresh start.

Somebody said earlier about educating kids in school in financial matters. I completely agree with this. If people understood how credit worked then they would be less likely to get themselves into a mess. Myself included.

We all live and learn I suppose.

Daft_Monkey

While watching Going for Broke the 28" TV was at the back of my mind all the time. Just couldn't really grasp the fact that although on benefits she went and bought a 28" TV. I'm in full employment and don't have a 28" TV!
She seemed more upset with the price of the TV stand rather than the TV's.
I sincerely hope everything goes well for her from now on.
I was also gobsmacked watching that old lady in Easy Prey, saying the prize goes to the next person. It's enough to make your head explode!