Create a legal route to write off coerced debt for victims of economic abuse

Background

Coerced debt is debt an abuser forces, or tricks, a victim into taking on. It has been reported that around 1.6 million UK adults have experienced it. A conviction for the abuser does not automatically remove the debt from the victim's name.

Additional details

We ask the Government to legislate a route to remove proven coerced debt. Only 28% of victims who disclose coerced debt get any of it written off, and 48% are left with damaged credit records. We ask the Government to create a statutory discharge route for evidenced coerced debt, modelled on the reversal of fraudulent transactions; make the currently voluntary Financial Abuse Code mandatory for lenders; and require credit reference agencies to record coercion markers and repair victims' credit files. Fraud can be reversed. We believe coerced debt needs the same route.

Where it’s popular

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