A different type of customer you meet is the Hard Done By, But Not Doing Anything About It kind.
One of the best examples of these was the charming Mrs Malone. A garrulous pensioner, Mrs Malone lived in a rural idyll somewhere in Remoteshire. She had previously worked as an events caterer (burger van), a horse breeder and a dog fluffer (I made the last one up).
Mrs Malone had a run of pretty awful luck. Her eldest son got Alzheimer’s aged 48 and, while she isn’t his carer, she does live nearby to check he is ok. Living in a rural idyll also means lots of farmland. Pesticides sprayed on the local crops killed six of her horses and they also made Mrs Malone very ill.
We received letters from numerous medical men who tried to explain Mrs Malone’s nervous system disorders and tumours. They all agreed there may be a link to the pesticides, but nothing was definite.
In addition, living in a rural idyll meant that Mrs Malone suffered from the weather. Her house has been flooded four times in the last five years and Mrs Malone has been in a continuous battle with the National Farmers’ Union and with her insurers over compensation and pay outs for the last few years.
During my many, many hour-long chats with Mrs Malone, it became apparent that she relished these battles; they kept her going.
She said she would place the house on the market about 20 times over the last few years, but never did. She didn’t want to sell her house and she didn’t want to pay her mortgage. We tried to sell her house for her on several occasions, but she always changed her mind. She made dozens of promises to make payments, but never did.
Each time (after much debate) we tried to repossess her, she went to the local friendly court and got the warrant suspended – on eight occasions.
She wasn’t interested in any government schemes and any schemes we offered were toyed with and then rejected after she had wasted sufficient time. Conversations with the insurers revealed that she had the same approach to them.
However, her illnesses and circumstances mean Mrs Malone has to be dealt with sympathetically.
It’s very tricky to decide what to do. No approach seems to work and we still don’t know what to do. Yet, she is still living there and not paying her mortgage.
