They had always wanted to own their own home and their scrimping and saving all seemed worthwhile when they signed on the dotted line for their three bedroom des-res.
But Mark and Diane Bouncer’s property dream is now a bad memory as the couple’s Walsall home was repossessed after they racked up debts of more than £140,000.
The Bouncers struggled to pay their mortgage for years, building up more and more debt until they had no choice but to pack up and leave their house, in Ashbourne Road, Lower Farm, Bloxwich, and hand the keys over to the bailiffs.
Food firm production assistant Mr Bouncer, aged 43, and his wife Diane, aged 50, are now trying to rebuild their lives after what they have described as “the stress and trauma” of giving up their cherished home, a former council property.
“All the years of struggling and, thinking back, trying to buy the house in the first place was all for nothing,” Mr Bouncer said today.
After initially renting the house they bought it from Walsall Council in 2000 and their mortgage cost £27,000. Their combined salaries were £20,000.
But when they struggled with repayments they borrowed more to keep their heads above water.
And when they finally gave up the battle to keep their home last November, their debts had reached more than £142,000. Yet even after they had gone bankrupt the offers of new mortgages and loans kept arriving through the letterbox.
Carer Mrs Bouncer, a mother-of-three, explained: “You read about it happening to other people but we always said it would never happen to us and it did.”
“We would advise people to be aware of extra charges made on loans. We both went through a lot. We both got quite stressed over it and Mark had to take time off work.”
They will be sharing their experiences on the ITVI programme Repossession, Rep-ossession, Repossession being shown tomorrow at 10.35pm, presented by Jeff Randall.
Diary of the family’s money troubles
1994: The Bouncers rent their council house in Bloxwich
2000: The couple buy their council house taking out a £27,000 mortgage
2002: Payments fall into arrears due to illness.The mortgage company offer a lower interest rate but couple still fall behind with household bills
2003: Still struggling to make mortgage payments, they are hit with penalty charges, insurance and legal fees.
2004: Problems with ceiling at their home prompt them to borrow on the mortgage to fix it.
2005:They take out another mortgage to revamp the kitchen and replace ageing appliances. Have personal problems and both suffer stress.
2006:Keep up with mortgage payments, but take out a bank loan secured on the property of more £8,000 to replace the windows, guttering and do up garden.
Nov 2006:Have a £1,200 bank overdraft and struggle again.
Jan 2007: Get debt advice from Moneymatters after the couple were shelling out £1,700 a month to run their home.
June 2007: Repossession hearing at Walsall County Court.
Nov 2007:Move into a rented flat.
29 Comments
I have no sympathy for this couple - their mortgage was only £27,000 to start with yet they ‘needed’ to put in new kitchen, windows, do up the garden with money they did not have. You over spent, you borrowed money you could not afford and your out of control spending meant your debts accumulated to £140,000.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Re: No1.
Did you get kicked out the Gestapo for cruelty?
You need to know the full facts before you can make you “hollier than thou” judgement.
On the face of £27,000 isn’t a big mortgage, but you need to have a full aprasial of the facts before you go launching in.
I hope if you are ever met with misfortune, you find people with compassion and human decency, unlike what you have displayed with your ill judged comments.
I agree with Steve. People should take more responsibility, it need not have gone as far as it did, wanting to own your own home is all well and good but common sense should have told them way back there is more to life than owning property
i totally agree with steve and struggle to see how they could get in a state when they must have the smallest mortgage ever - their diary obviously doesnt show their other spendings - an income of 27k and a mortagage of 20k is an ideal way to pay off the mortagage in 10 years if not less - i think their troubles were more apparent in the fact they dont know how to control spending full stop !
It’s idiots like No.1 above who make having debts seem like something to be ashamed of.
It must be wonderful to be in a position to pay cash for everything you need.
If an appliance breaks or a ceiling needs repairing where are people supposed to go. Most people will use some form of credit.
Your attitude is exactly why people do not want to own up to having a problem.
They do not want to get judged.
Its very easy to fall into debt when everything is going fine in your life but it can soon take over and all it takes is something very minor to bring everything down around you.
There but for the grace of god!
At least they have now faced the problem and can start putting their lives back together.
Steve, I suggest it is you who should be ashamed of yourself.
Re no 1
You are so right my hubby earns the same as the couple and we have two kids and our mortgage is £58k
Yes we need a new kitchen but we will wait. We don’t go off getting loan after loan and running up debts that there is now why we can pay back.
Re
Keith Curle’s Big
The facts are there they just run up debts they knew they could pay.
People like them should think before they pay out for luxuries (yes doing up kitchen and garden are a luxury if you cant afford them)
I’m with you Steve (no1). I wish my mortgage was only £27000, I wouldn’t have to SAVE so hard so that I could replace my kitchen. On another note though what onb earth were the mortgage lenders and banks thinking of loaning them extra money when they obviously couldn’t afford to pay back what they already owed.
Myself and hubby are quite high in debt, but we’ve learnt our lesson and we manage ok now. We couldn’t afford anymore debt, we had unexpected pregnancy which threw everything into turmoil. We’ve been in our house five years and not replaced anything, theres loads we want to do, but we save then we have something done rather than borrow, borrow and borrow. Its easy to get into at one point i had four credit cards and two loans.
I think you need to learn from your mistakes, and not keep making the same ones! How did they let it get so bad and who kept lending then the money in the first place? I blame them!
I single handedly run a house/car/kid, all on 20 hours a week salary (and pay my £20k mortgage). If I can do it, they could have. They are obviously not telling the true story. I never go more than £100 overdrawn and pay off my credit card in full. I’m with the first comment. They should learn - if you can’t afford it, then go without.
What a load of small minded people some of you are.
Can you not read what it says, due to the falling ILLNESS of either one or both parties this put on the pressure of being unable to pay there mortage. Once this this debt it obviously snowed balled and became bigger.
The real people who should be blamed for this are the banks, they do nothing to help people who initially get into this state.
My husband fell out of work and we struggled to pay our mortgage when I went to the bank they didnt want to know and fobbed me off. I was told I couldnt have any help for around 9 months (hmmmmm yes just think of how much debt I would have been in best part of £4000 thats without debts from elsewhere), thankfully my husband found work fairly quickly, but god only know what would have happened if he hadnt.
We havent all got savings or family to help us out. I dare say this family didnt plan for any of this to happen it was just unfortunate.
Re me yes they got into trouble due to illness
But in 2005 they took out another mortgage to do up the kitchen and garden.
If they had not took out that another mortgage they might have been ok.
Like I said before I cope and so do other people out there with out getting in debt.
Its small mined people like you, which glorify debt.
And I have two children to bring up they had none .
So where did the money go
I don’t work because I look after my kids but I don’t run up debt and we have no hands out from family or friends.
I just know that if you cant afford it you cant have it….
“COMBINED salary of £20,000″ - that’s not a huge amount for two people to earn - many earn double that on their own.
“Arrears through illness” - which partner? the greater wage-earner? I suggest all you moralists muttering on about how angelic & responsible you are take a look at yourselves long and hard. Mortgages, cars on the drive - how would you cope if any one of you were out of work (redundancy) or long-term sick?
Yes, people do overstretch themselves, various reports suggest that the vast majority of us are just one paycheck away from financial hardship at any one time.
Appliances break down, property needs maintaining…but without the disposable cash (due to servicing debt) where do we turn? Advice was taken, offered & received…but a leaky roof or broken down cooker doesn’t wait for the good times does it?
There does seem to be some excess here - £140,000 on a £20,000 income? - HOWEVER, having been in a similar situation, i have a degree of sympathy.
As a qualified mortgage adviser I would like to point out a few points
1) The mortgage was affordable until one of them got sick. Surely when they took out the mortgage they were offered a form of income protection? These policies aren’t expensive and pay out costs to cover the mortgage.If they had that they wouldn’t be in this mess
2) to borrow nearly 7 times the value of your home is quite plainly daft. You must do your maths. If you can’t afford it now, borrowing more won’t solve the problem.70% of people who consolidate debts by way of further lending get back into debt within 2 years. I would have asked for reduced payments from the lenders. it might screw up your credit rating but surely that’s gota be better than losing the home?
re the g..
good advice…
what a good boy you are ..
Re.13 ‘The G’-
Income Protection Insurance? Now I know you are crazy, that is one of the biggest scams going.
On paper it sounds good, but you see what happens when you try to claim on it folks! The Bank/Insurance company will use every trick in the book to avoid paying out.
This case sounds like one for Trisha Goddard’s talk show. Judging by the debate going on on this blog, she’s got a ready-made baying audience for the show too.
I have not got a single credit card or debt and i manage very well with all cost,s -house ,car,2 children .
mainly i believe not drinking or smoking has some effect on this and we easily save for most things , yes i do feel for these people BUT as the mortgage advisor said if you borrow 7 times the value of your mortgage then what do you really expect- the banks and loan agency,s must have to take some blame but the forms did not fill them selves in did they.
I just hope other people can take note of this and curb the way they spend also-otherwise it could be you next.
Well said Graham - we paid £10,000 in fees for Income Protection Insurance on a £40,000 mortgage over 20 years from a high street bank. We paid the mortgage off in less than two years due to a change in circumstances but the bank said we were not entitled to a refund for any of the insurance. We took it to the ombudsman and got the money back plus interest - you’ve got to fight them every inch of the way. I feel sorry for this couple - it’s so easy to get in over your head, and oh so easy to be smug when it’s not you. If we fall into another recession a lot of people will be eating their sanctamonious words - remember the early 1980’s. And the G - of course they don’t owe such a large mutiple in value of their house - properties have increased in value.
When my husband was off work for 3 months I was sure glad we had mortgage protection insurance. It saved us a load of worry. I now it costs but to us it is worth peace of mind. And by the way we had no problem claiming.
Why can’t people say ‘no’.
i think your all mad,,keep your dollars in your pocket in the first place sod a mortgage….
Combined income of £20,000..welcome to breadline Britain. The economy is now debt-focussed - that’s how bad things are getting here. This story is repeated over and over..where there is debt there is control, order. It’s a means of keeping people in their place and denying them the rights others take for granted. Seriously, living here has become a nightmare: it’s cheaper, cleaner and a heck of a lot less hassle to simply emigrate.
THEY LIVED LIKE KINGS WHILE IT LASTED AND ACTED LIKE FOOLS.I HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR THEIR STUPIDITY.
I have no sympathy either. Debt should be something to be ashamed of unless it is necessary such as to buy a house. I bought my house in 2001 on my own. I had a mortgage of £27.5k and my salary at the time was £10.5k and I still managed to overpay it, and save a little every month. I’ve had a new kitchen which I saved for and have now got my mortgage down to £6.5k. There’s still things that need doing to the house but they will have to wait a while. I don’t deprive myself of things I want them either, I just have them in moderation but then, I don’t drink or smoke either which is a massive cost over the course of one year. People need to take control of their financed. Ok, illness was a factor in this case but you should always consider this when taking out loans etc as you should always make sure you would be able to afford repayments should the interest rate rocket. This week my mom has given up her home to move back into rented accommodation as she, and my step dad, have borrowed far beyond their means (for cars, holidays etc) and couldn’t keep up repayments.
So Sarah does this mean that your mom and stepdad are ALSO in debt. How can you preach when your own family has done more or less exactly the same things, borrowed and spent mor than they earn………….POT,KETTLE springs to mind
’tis the banks and building society’s to blame…
£140,000 - it would be nothing to them to write off the debt…
Rather rake in the dollars than care for people!
Comment 25 by ME - Yes they are in debt and I’m highlighting that they are idots as well. How can ‘pot, kettle’ be applied to me when I live within my means? People are irresponsible morons, and yes, that includes my mother.
Wow!! Bits and pieces of what MOST of everyone is saying rings some sort of truth. However credit cards are ONLY for CONVENIENCE till the end of the month!!! Cedit institutions should always be second guessed[checked on]!! If you don,t have it or can,t get it don,t do it!!! I,ve learned to do it[fix,repair,or build]myself. You can too!! Seems like everybody wants everything done for them these days….to bad…As a teenager graduated from highschool I bought a peice of property,paid it off,used it for equity, built a house,paid it off. The wife and I have always worked at our own careers and if there had been an illness it would have slowed us down but not stopped US!!!We only make a modest living but we are DRIVEN!!
i do feel so sorry why isnt anyone thinking of there 3 poor children and im sorry to see you have lost your home diane but in the future i want to wish you good luck and remember there is allways someone worse off than yourself x