HSBC UK has partnered with domestic abuse charity, Surviving Economic Abuse (SEA), to close down opportunities for economic abusers to push victim-survivors into debt and homelessness.
Economic abuse impacts the lives of 4.1 million women in the UK. It involves a current or ex-partner controlling a victim-survivor’s money and the things that it can buy. Many victim-survivors end up in debt and lose their home and job as a result – in the last year, domestic abuse was the third most common cause of homelessness in England.
The charity found that domestic abusers are using joint mortgages against 750,000 UK women, plunging many victim-survivors into debt and homelessness by refusing to pay their agreed share of the mortgage, agree to new terms, or sell up.
The new partnership aims to transform how victim-survivors of all sexes are supported by their bank, exploring ways the bank can help keep a roof over their heads and regain control of their finances after economic abuse.
SEA will deliver training to HSBC UK and first direct colleagues, helping them to spot the signs of economic abuse and support customers who are experiencing it. The charity will also work with the bank’s mortgage teams to identify opportunities and test innovative approaches to improve support for customers experiencing joint mortgage economic abuse.
HSBC UK and first direct will also work with SEA and Money Advice Plus (MAP) to explore how the Economic Abuse Evidence Form (EAEF) could be adapted to support customers experiencing economic abuse via secured loans such as joint mortgages. Working alongside industry stakeholders, learnings from this will lead to a blueprint for how the form could be rolled out for use with secured lending to the wider industry.
The EAEF is an information-sharing tool, devised by MAP and piloted in partnership with SEA. Using the EAEF, qualified money and debt advisers can explain to financial services the impact of the economic abuse on the victim-survivor to help the firm decide how they can support the customer. As well as faster decision times and fewer requests for additional information, the EAEF saves victim-survivors from repeating their story multiple times, which can be incredibly distressing and re-traumatising.
Tina owned her own property and added her partner to the mortgage when they began living together. He became abusive and when she left him, they agreed he would continue to contribute to the mortgage until her child finished school. But he then refused to contribute to the mortgage or agree to switch to a more competitive rate, pushing Tina into arrears and eventually making her homeless.
“He suddenly stopped paying towards the mortgage, and I was left to support my child and pay the mortgage on my own. When the fixed rate ended, he refused to switch to another fixed rate which meant the payments went up by over £500.
“Because he stopped paying and refused to let me switch to a better rate, I was unable to make the full mortgage payments. I made payments as and when I could, but the mortgage ultimately ended up going into arrears. I wasn’t sleeping. I was constantly worrying about money. And now he has achieved what he always set out to achieve, which is to ensure that for the rest of my life, I’ll be living in housing insecurity.”
Sam Smethers, interim CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with HSBC UK to stop domestic abusers in their tracks and strengthen support for victim-survivors at risk of losing their homes.
“No one should be plunged into homelessness because they have experienced domestic abuse. Yet every day abusers are weaponising joint mortgages to devastate the lives of hundreds of thousands of victim-survivors. Many end up trapped with the abuser or facing homelessness and destitution.
“Together with HSBC UK, we’ll support them to help victim-survivors take control of their finances and safely rebuild their lives. By testing innovative responses to economic abuse, we will help explore how the banking industry can support survivors to keep hold of their homes.”
José Carvalho, head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC UK, commented: "Shared finances provide stability and security for many couples and work perfectly, but where economic abuse is present they can become a tool of control and financial harm. All providers in the finance industry and beyond have a role in tackling this issue and we are proud to partner with Surviving Economic Abuse to strengthen protections for those affected.
"By working together, we can help ensure that no one is forced into homelessness or financial hardship due to an abusive partner’s actions – giving victim-survivors the support they need to regain control of their finances and rebuild their lives.”
