Almost three years ago, Cheryl*, 43, left her abusive husband. She now lives with a friend. 

An animal lover, she tells me she had to leave behind her beloved dog when she left her abuser. The violence started six years into their relationship.

When he was furloughed during the Covid-19 pandemic, he would occasionally turn to Cheryl for financial support. He’d ask for some money for a few beers here and there. She was initially content to oblige. After all, it’s normal to help each other out when you’re in a committed relationship. Then the requests for help became threatening demands. Ultimately, Cheryl’s abuser racked up debts across multiple credit cards, but even though he was racking up the debts, the credit cards were Cheryl’s, so the debts were technically in her name.

Cheryl’s story is, sadly, not an unfamiliar one. Our new report, Too Close To Home, reveals that in the last 12 months, 1.6 million UK adults have experienced coerced debt – debts that result from loans or credit an abuser forces a victim to take out.

This is usually part of a pattern of economic abuse involving an abuser exploiting, restricting and sabotaging someone’s economic resources to exert power and control. Coerced debt is difficult to deal with as the debts are in the victim’s sole or joint (with their abuser’s) name, which means that they are solely or partially liable for them.   

Adam*, 24, was psychologically and physically abused by members of his immediate family. His brothers and father forced him to use his credit card to pay for things, mostly items for around the house. And Adam was expected to pay the debts back on his own. A student at the time, the repayments were unmanageable. They later used his personal information to take out other lines of credit in his name without his knowledge, including store cards and payday loans, which have notoriously high interest rates. He didn’t discover he even had these debts until he received notice of defaults in the post.

As with the aftermath of abuse more generally, the impacts of coerced debt are long-lasting. Even if a survivor leaves their abuser, they are often faced with the prospect of paying off debts they did not build up themselves. This was the case with Cheryl, who still has seven years of paying back debts through a debt management plan. Where a survivor isn’t aware of all the debts in their name, like Adam, finding a solution is especially difficult.

Our research reveals numerous barriers to resolving coerced debts and a complicated landscape of support for survivors to navigate. And according to our national polling, the majority of people – two-thirds – haven’t even heard of coerced debt or economic abuse.

Lack of awareness is just one barrier to resolving coerced debts. Cheryl knew she had experienced domestic abuse. She knew that the debts were built up in the context of an abusive relationship, one characterised by intimidation, fear and control. She was even familiar with the term coerced debt. But still, when I asked her, she didn’t feel that her debts ‘counted’ as having been coerced. She said her abuser didn’t say, “Get me this or else.” Yet she also told me she only agreed to him using her credit cards because she feared the possibility of violent consequences.

This awareness issue was echoed by our debt advisors, who told us that survivors often didn’t realise they had been coerced until after the fact, and said that misinformation, stigma and shame acted as barriers to being aware of it. This, coupled with immediate concerns of safety and housing, and feeding themselves and often their children, meant that deciphering their coerced debt situation was often “not high up on their list of priorities”, the advisors told me.

Cheryl, like some of the other clients I spoke to, blamed herself for what had happened. She felt, in her own words, that she was “responsible” for repaying the debts. When she contacted StepChange for advice, she didn’t mention anything about having experienced domestic abuse; she didn’t think it was relevant. Yet, when we polled UK adults, asking who should be responsible for repaying coerced debts in a hypothetical situation involving, the majority (67%) did not think the victim should be responsible for repaying the debts accrued in their name. This scenario was even modelled on Cheryl’s experience, indicating public appetite to support survivors of economic abuse like her.

Our research found that debt write-off did occur in some cases (13% of those with coerced debts), and that when it did it brought with it positive outcomes. But this is not happening consistently for a number of reasons, including survivors not disclosing their situation to their lenders and inconsistent approaches to write-off from lenders. Even when debts are written off, all too often the person’s credit file is heavily impacted. This exacerbates their financial instability, all at a time when they are trying to move forward, gain financial independence and rebuild their lives.

This was the case for Adam. Having taken the difficult decision to leave his family home – a decision which, as well we know, is psychologically, economically and often physically challenging – he found himself homeless, alone and with a mountain of debt and an impaired credit record.

He told me: “My credit rating is literally on the floor,” saying he’d lost out on jobs and worried that he couldn’t take out any form of credit in an emergency. For people with low financial resilience – those who don’t have the ability to withstand financial pressures and unexpected events, like many of our clients – when experiencing life shocks and needing to afford one-off large expenses, credit is often the only place they can turn to. A poor credit score can impact access to vital products and services, including housing, car finance and mobile and internet contracts. Adam’s story brings into sharp focus how coerced debts leave a legacy of financial pain that pervades long after a survivor leaves their abuser.

Until recently, there was no legal or regulatory framework that recognised or provided a remedy for economic abuse and coerced debts. But thanks to efforts from women’s charities and the financial services industry, progress has been made. Through best practice guidance having been developed and the needs of customers in vulnerable situations have been centred under the FCA’s Consumer Duty, there are increasingly positive responses by financial services to coerced debt and greater understanding of how to tackle it.

Economic abuse was enshrined as a form of abusive behaviour in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ – of which coerced debt is listed as a potential impact – was included as a criminal offence in the Serious Crime Act 2015. But support for survivors remains inconsistent and patchy, while prosecutions under the Serious Crime Act are incredibly rare, as research from Surviving Economic Abuse has found. What’s more, pursuing legal action against one’s abuser is not always the best option, fraught as it is with issues of safety. Often, seeking support from creditors offers the swiftest, safest solution, but this is only in cases where debts are written off, which at present, is neither common nor a given.

That is why economic justice, which describes actions that mean survivors can achieve economic stability and security, is so important. Economic justice means that the survivor doesn’t have to pay for the actions of their abuser. It might include things like debt write-off coupled with credit record restitution and removing negative markers. Debt write-off that leaves an impaired credit record is only one piece of the puzzle.

The trauma of domestic abuse is long-lasting and complex. As a debt advice provider supporting vulnerable clients, we know we cannot erase the abuse, but through a joined-up, consistent approach from lenders, credit reference agencies and debt advice, many of the economic impacts of the abuse can be erased. This would go a long way in ensuring that survivors can rebuild their lives without having to pay the price for their abuser’s behaviour.

*Names have been changed

Genevieve Richardson is senior public policy advocate at StepChange and the author of Too Close To Home, the charity’s latest policy report looking at coerced debt and economic abuse.

StepChange is a charity offering free, impartial and confidential debt advice and solutions. If you’re struggling with debt, support is available 24 hours a day.

Images: Getty