Companies refuse woman's payments

A woman faces a problem few people ever have -- she wants to pay her bills, but no one wants her money.

Nicola Casey owes over $11,000 to various creditors, including two finance companies, the courts and her landlord, but is finding it difficult to repay the debt as companies will not accept small weekly payments, the Otago Daily Times reported.

Last year Ms Casey, a sickness beneficiary from Mosgiel, sought advice to help sort out her debts. She was advised she could afford to repay $7 a week, once all other expenses were taken care of.

She was told the Justice Department would not set up a payment for less than $15 a week, and if it was not set up by the end of the week, she would incur a further $100 penalty.

Contact Energy had handed over her debt to another collection agency, which initially did not want her $7 either, but agreed to accept $10 a week, if her budget adviser gave written proof she could not afford more.

"I was sick of getting letters and warnings all the time, and I'm on the sickness benefit for depression. I was just trying to get on top for the year and get my life sorted, but now no-one wants my money.

"How hard is it to give away money? It's unbelievable," she said.

Budget advisory service co-ordinator Shirley Woodrow said people had grown up in an era where they had not seen people save to get things, and they thought less and less about the consequences of easy credit.

Mrs Woodrow said she had once asked a finance company why it had approved a loan for a client, where 95 per cent of his income was committed to repayments on the loan. The company told her that to refuse the person the loan would be "income discrimination".

- NZPA