Paul is a fisherman with 40 years service and lives with his wife Anne. He was diagnosed with cancer late last year and has had to take time off work to recuperate after treatment. He is expected to make a full recovery and hopes to be back at work in about six months.
The only income they have coming in at the moment is Anne's earnings which were not enough to cover all household bills including the mortgage which they were in arrears with. There were a number of other debts including council tax, gas, electricity and water rates. They also had a loan secured on their property which Paul had taken out for repairs to his boat. They were making payments of £250 per month towards this which added to their financial problems on a large scale as they paid this above their mortgage and other bills. They worried that their property would be repossessed if they fell behind with repayments. When they approached SAIL they were unable to manage their finances on a day to day basis and had been ignoring all letters from creditors some of whom had begun court action.

SAIL provided a full benefit check and advised Paul to apply for Disability Living Allowance. This then meant they could apply for Council Tax Benefit. We applied to a maritime charity who offered to pay their mortgage for two months while they sorted out their debts. Their local Fishermen's Mission paid towards their gas and electricity arrears and a maritime charity paid their Council Tax arrears. Anne also increased her working hours. SAIL negotiated with their lender regarding the secured loan and had their payments reduced from £250 to £40 per month which freed up a large part of their income.

We were then able to complete a financial statement and negotiate with their mortgage provider as we could show that they would be in a position to make their contractual mortgage repayments plus something towards the arrears. We applied for them to sign up to a water scheme which meant that for every £1 they paid towards their current usage £1 would be knocked off their arrears. We also completed a budget sheet for them so they could see each month what bills needed to be paid, helping them to be better able to manage their finances and keep track of what needed to be paid.

Paul and Anne now say that they feel they are getting back on track and taking control of their finances due to the combined effort of SAIL, the maritime charities and the Fishermen's Mission.