Last year, domestic abuse was the third-most common cause of homelessness in England, and economic abuse – which involves a current or ex-partner controlling a victim-survivor’s money – affects 4.1 million women in the UK.
The charity also found that domestic abusers were using joint mortgages against 750,000 women in the UK, causing them to fall into debt and homelessness by refusing to pay their share of the mortgage, agree to new terms or sell.
HSBC UK, First Direct and SEA have teamed up to change how victim-survivors of all sexes can be supported by their bank, keep their homes and regain control of their finances.
SEA will train HSBC UK and First Direct colleagues to be able to spot signs of economic abuse and support customers experiencing it. The charity will also work with the mortgage teams to test new approaches to improve support for borrowers experiencing economic abuse with joint mortgages.
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.
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The learnings are expected to result in a blueprint for how the form can be used across the lending sector.
The EAEF is an information-sharing tool that was developed by MAP and piloted in partnership with SEA. Qualified money and debt advisers can use it to explain the impact of economic abuse on the victim-survivor to financial services firms so they can decide what support to give.
It aims to lead to faster decision times and fewer requests for information, which could prevent victim-survivors from having to disclose their situation multiple times, which can be distressing.
The devastating outcome of economic abuse
In one case, Tina [not her real name] owned her property and added her partner to the mortgage when they began living together.
He became abusive and she left him, agreeing he would continue to contribute to the mortgage until her child finished school. However, he refused to contribute or agree to switch to a competitive rate, which pushed Tina into arrears and left her homeless.
She said: “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.”
Supporting victim-survivors
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, added: “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.”
