Man petrified of debt hid garden shed for year to escape debt collectors.

mostlycheerful

A man petrified of his mounting debt hid in his garden shed for a whole year to escape debt collectors. Steve Morris, 60, became so anxious about the bills piling up in his hallway and creditors asking for money that he moved into his shed at the bottom of his garden in Weymouth, Dorset - with just a television and a microwave.

And amazingly - he is now living back in the house after the Citizens' Advice Bureau arranged a repayment plan with his bank. Mr Morris was about to lose his home and had an eviction notice on his window when debt collectors changed the locks assuming he had left. But before he could be found - neighbours worried they had not spotted him for a long time contacted the police.

Mr Morris claimed he had become so scared about debt collectors visiting he disconnected his front door bell. He said "I was broke and reached rock bottom. I had given up hope and was living in my garden shed to avoid the creditors banging on the door. There was a mountain of letters two foot deep. You don't get any good letters when you're broke - you only get threats and demands."

He got into the crippling debt when he took out a £10,000 bank loan to pay for new engineering equipment. He was working as a self-employed precision engineer and planned to buy a new lathe but ended up needing to use the money on metal materials and was unable to repay the loan.

It was then Mr Morris began to stay in the shed during the day - before making the permanent move leaving his three-bedroom house sitting empty. He said "I was living in there for a year and my neighbour had not seen me for two months. I was sleeping underneath a worktop in there so there would not be a light on in the house."

Mr Morris was helped by the Citizens Advice Rural Dorset Service - who helped to freeze his debts to his bank, electric and gas companies for a period and arranged a payment plan using his benefits and his pension from his 40-year career. His rural outreach advisor Helen Dyer said "He's got a relatively small mortgage and lots of equity but he would have lost his house over a debt of £10,000." Mr Morris added "They've been so understanding and patient with me. They are lifesavers and if I thanked them 10,000 times per day it would not be enough. Without them I would have been homeless and lost everything."

Mr Morris is now back in his house. He volunteers at a nursing home every week and has installed a new front door bell.

dailymail dot co.uk/news/article-1309255/Man-crippling-debts-lived-garden-shed-YEAR-escape-bailiffs.html#ixzz0ygcfhMPC

beanielou

So glad he was able to get help.

kathy40uk

OMG that poor man :eek:

Glad he got help too

Hannah_10

That is so sad, and all because he didn't realise help was available or because he didn't feel able to turn to it. Cases like this are the reason that attitudes to debt are long overdue a change.

isy1011

Oh that made me cry. Poor man. Wonderful CAB.