“Jens” has over NOK 4 million in consumer debt. Before tax, Jens has around 30,000 in income a month. Only the interest on his loans is NOK 33,000. Or 1,100 every single day. Jens does not pay anything on the loans. He has given up. – You become a little indifferent. Because I can’t get it to decrease anyway, says Jens. Jens is not the man’s real name. news knows his real identity. Photo: Ragnhild Kallestad / news Started with a city trip Jens’s addiction actually started with something completely different from gambling. He was shot down in the city and received a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury. He received several million in compensation for victims of violence and sat at home a lot and was bored. He started playing on digital slot machines at Norsk Tipping. A few kroner for each print. Then he upgraded to foreign gaming companies and approached a thousand kroner for each print. Then he wins around NOK 1.5 million. He struggled to get the money out because of the government’s restrictions on foreign gaming companies. He lost everything. Then he starts spending what he has left of the compensation money. Over the next few years, he takes out at least 18 different loans. A total of over NOK 4 million. The scheme Last year he decided to apply for a public debt scheme. – I stopped playing and had such high hopes of getting cleaned up, says Jens. But it is a long and difficult process to get a debt arrangement approved. For most people, it takes around half a year. This is a debt arrangement: A public debt arrangement is something you can apply for via the bailiff. If you are approved, you will be required to live on a minimum budget and anything above that will go to your creditors. As a rule, this lasts for five years. When the period is over, the creditors are obliged to cancel all remaining debts. The requirements for getting a debt arrangement: First, you usually have to try to make an agreement with the creditors yourself. You must be permanently unable to settle the debt. You do not meet the conditions for debt settlement if you have temporary payment problems. It should not seem offensive to others that you get a debt arrangement. The bailiff assesses this. The age of the debt comes into play here. If you have a lot of new debt, it may prevent you from getting a debt arrangement. Then you should wait to apply until the debt has become somewhat older. He starts playing again. It’s not too big of a sum, because he doesn’t have that. But it is enough for the bailiff to discover it on his account statements. We have gone through the account statements you have sent us and see that you are still gambling. The bailiff considers that it would be offensive to open debt negotiations when you are still gambling and have not been fully processed by Blå Kors. Your application has therefore been refused. He gets rejected. – It was terribly hard to get that rejection. Then I lost all motivation and thought that it would just be the same, says Jens. “Jens” knows he has to stop playing. Photo: Ragnhild Kallestad / news Unknown help Norwegians have almost 170 billion in unsecured debt, figures from the Debt Register show. Consumer Affairs Minister Kjersti Toppe does not like the development. From next year, the government has tried to make it easier to apply for debt relief. – I am concerned that many people do not know this scheme well enough, says Toppe. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news Annually, somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 people get a debt arrangement. But despite the fact that “everything” is more expensive, this has actually decreased in recent years. – I don’t think the need has become any less, but that people don’t know that there is help to be had, says the minister. The changes in the debt regime: From 1 January, several changes will be made to the law: The requirement that the debtor should try to resolve the case on their own is removed. It will be easier to approve debt arrangements over a shorter period of time than five years. The government also removes the possibility that creditors currently have to share in increased income, inheritance or other increase in assets the debtor receives in the first two years after the debt arrangement. Out of control news has gained access to Jens’s accounts. He transfers a large sum to his father every month to make sure he doesn’t waste it. – My family is very important to me, says Jens. The activity on the accounts is very large. On 26 August, Jens had 37 transactions in one day. Mainly alcohol and gambling. And that combination often goes hand in hand. – It is understandable that Jens feels hopeless. That’s what Lene Drange, known as presenter of Luksusfellen and founder of the Debt Collection Register, says. – He will not have a normal life until he is also done with debt. Even if he stops playing, he is painfully aware that the debt from it will stick with him until he gets a solution. Wants change The Debt Arrangement Act was drawn up in 1992. Norwegian households were in a serious debt crisis after the Japp era. Many had outstanding loans for housing and unemployment was high. – I think it is high time that things become simpler, says Drange. – It is incredibly cumbersome. Even we at Luksusfellen struggle with it when we assist our participants. Photo: news Drange wants a major review of the debt scheme in order to update it to today’s credit society. She wants more money for debt counselors in the municipality. – We have to follow up the individual who is in this scheme in a better way. It is about prevention and preparing people on how to manage their money in a better way. “Jens” hopes he can get a debt arrangement in place. Photo: Ragnhild Kallestad / news A dream Just two days before news came to visit, Jens had played. He knows he has to stop. The aim is to apply for debt settlement again before Christmas. – I really want to make it happen, says Jens. He goes to treatment at the Blue Cross. Now he hopes to enter 2025 without playing and hopefully with a debt arrangement. – The dream is to not just be indifferent to money anymore. Pay bills when due. He tries to look ahead. – If I get rid of this debt, I’ll go on holiday somewhere, Jens says and his eyes light up for the first time. Published 08.11.2024, at 09.47
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Norwegians have 170 million in consumer debt – many do not know about the debt scheme – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
