Jendy* was seeing a financial mentor in South Auckland, because she was unwell and was sole caregiver to two children. Jendy had received a benefit when she went into hospital care, which resulted in missed payments with a finance company.
The finance company started repossession action, which increased Jendy’s anxiety and a resultant heart attack put her back into hospital. There were also other stressful events happening in her household at the same time. Her financial mentor helped Jendy to explain her difficult circumstances from the hospital and the finance company stopped the repossession action.
He then helped her to obtain an interest-free GetControl Debt Relief loan from Ngā Tāngata Microfinance. Jendy paid back $14 per week, for two years, and has now finished paying off the loan.
Jendy says she has not taken on any more debt since she received the loan from Ngā Tāngata Microfinance. When asked what would have happened if she had not got the loan, her comment was “my head would have been in a bad place. I would have got unwell again.” She says that “things have been much better” since then.
Her financial mentor told her she now has good credit with Ngā Tāngata Microfinance after repaying the Debt Relief loan so reliably – and that she would be able to apply for a GetAhead Asset Building loan if she needed to purchase an essential item for her family and household.
Importantly, she learned that if she ever felt desperate financially, she was to call her financial mentor or contact Ngā Tāngata Microfinance rather than go to a money lender. This gave her a real lift and she is feeling thrilled to be able to manage her finances and “get rid of the loan sharks”.
*Note: all names including those of the loan companies have been changed. Any re-publishing of these case studies need the permission of Ngā Tāngata Microfinance Ltd.