Daughter blasts ‘inhumane’ debt collectors after her cancer-hit father took his own life

A father killed himself after piling on £70,000 in debts that forced him to live with no heating or water as he battled cancer. 

Bailiffs found Nigel Hurst’s body when they broke into his home to repossess the property.

The 56-year-old had £5 in his bank in the months leading up to his death, his 26-year-old daughter Jessica said.

In a suicide note left to her and his 20-year-old daughter Sally, 20, he spoke of his relief at the prospect of dying.

Jessica (left) only realised the Nigel (right) had built up the debts after bailiffs found his body when they came to repossess the property 

Jessica shared the note with the Daily Record in a plea for debt collectors to show struggling people more compassion.

In his note, Nigel wrote that he could not go on and had ‘decided to go’ as he faced losing his ‘house as well as my self respect’.

Telling his daughters not grieve too long for him, he said passing would be a ‘huge relief’. 

Jessica last saw her father when he drove her to Glasgow where she is studying and she said he seemed quiet just three days before his death in October 2017.

Jessica accused debt collectors of mounting 'unbearable' pressure on her father while he was battling cancer 

Jessica accused debt collectors of mounting ‘unbearable’ pressure on her father while he was battling cancer 

But she says he was generally an ‘exuberant’ person who didn’t tell her that there was a problem.  

She claims bailiffs gave her a couple of hours during Christmas to collect sentimental property from Nigel’s house after he killed himself. It was then that she realised he’d been living without water or heating.

Nigel couldn’t even afford to replace teeth lost through cancer treatment  and a year he confided in his daughter that he had just £5 in his account.

The grieving family were also told that the total amount he owed was growing, with debt collectors saying they were due more than £82,000 in May this year. 

Jessica said the ‘unbearable’ pressure put on her father was ‘utterly disgusting and inhumane’.  

Trainee opera singer Jessica only realised her father’s debt had reached such levels after she found an eviction note at his home after he killed himself. 

The trainee opera singer (pictured) has shared her father's suicide not in the hope that bailiffs show more compassion in the future 

The trainee opera singer (pictured) has shared her father’s suicide not in the hope that bailiffs show more compassion in the future 

Nigel was battling cancer of the kidneys after being diagnosed in 2004 and Jessica believes the illness plus the stress of a divorce from the girls’ mother led to his financial difficulties.

He started with a credit card debt of £2,203 and loans as well as £1,500 owed for council tax to South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria.

His council tax arrears reached more than £9,000 with fees and interest when he declared himself bankrupt three years ago.

A court appointed BDO UK accountants to collect the debt following bankruptcy, at which point the total amount owed is believed to have climbed higher than £15,000.

Nigel was working as a groundsman when he declared himself bankrupt and had agreed monthly payments of £880 but had stopped paying it. Jessica thinks he couldn’t afford to keep up with the instalments.

Jessica’s younger sister Sally has learning difficulties and has battled anxiety since Nigel’s death.

She no longer has the security of the home that her father was planning on leaving to her. 

Jessica said Nigel was a ‘wonderful’ father who stayed close friends with their mother following the splite.

Jessica offered to pay £40,000 to keep the house but the accountants refused on the grounds that the sum was too low. 

Nigel’s MP Tim Farron intervened and BDO agreed to reduce their claim to £35,869. This is understood to be partly a result of the accountants reducing their fees.

But the £140,000 house will need to be sold because it has a mortgage of £56,000  along with an outstanding loan of £11,000.

Jessica said it was ‘immoral’ to take a family home from her sister with learning difficulties over a loan that started at just over £2,000. 

BDO UK said it was appointed trustees after Nigel went bankrupt in 2015 and applied to put the property up for sale as he was unable to pay debts owed.

They said in a statement that the death was ‘tragic’, adding: ‘BDO have waived their statutory entitlement to be paid all their fees, and have been in contact with the other stakeholders in an endeavour to minimise the bankruptcy liabilities and costs.’

  • For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or go to Samaritans.org 

 

 



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