Subject:
|
Re: Sheffield man’s love of LEGO lands him with debt problems
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.mediawatch
|
Date:
|
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:14:02 GMT
|
Viewed:
|
25087 times
|
| |
|
|
In lugnet.mediawatch, Abner Finley wrote:
| |
Sheffield man’s love of LEGO lands him with debt problems
Written on April 14, 2011 by Nathan Cameron
An autistic man from Sheffield has found himself with relatively serious debt
problems after over-indulging in his favourite hobby – LEGO.
Christopher Royston, 32, has a large collection of LEGO models and sculptures
in his house in Heeley. He spoke to the Sheffield Star newspaper about his
debt problems, explaining that he had continued to buy LEGO and other puzzles
to alleviate his anxiety. However, his excessive spending resulted in Mr
Royston falling behind with his council tax bills and months of rent payments
to Sheffield Homes.
After realising that his hobby was out of control, Mr Royston sought debt
help and arranged for his rent to be paid directly out of his Job Seekers’
Allowance to Sheffield Homes. At this time, he owed £129.76 ($212 USD).
However, it seems that the payments Mr Royston was making through Job Centre
Plus were not enough to cover his debt. Sheffield Homes took the case to a
Sheffield county court, claiming that his debt had built up to £159.71 ($260
USD). He was ordered to pay this amount, plus £169.50 ($277 USD) in court
costs.
Speaking to The Star, Mr Royston said:
“I was told that if I did not pay, I could lose my home.
“I don’t understand why they took me to court as I was already addressing the
issue and all it has done is meant I have a bigger bill to pay.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield Homes said that Mr Royston had informed them
that he had autism but had said that it wouldn’t affect his ability to make
rent payments. The company has waived around £25 ($40 USD) of unpaid council
tax and now considers Mr Royston’s debts to be repaid.
Chilterndebtmanagement.co.uk
-end of report-
|
I may have read this wrong but the total here seems under 600 USD or so and
that’s “relatively serious” ???
Maybe it’s just me but that doesn’t seem like a lot of money to me. But maybe
I’m sort of inured to talk of 4 trillion dollar deficits in the news and such
like.
Perhaps he should consider selling off a few of his older sets? He might be
surprised what they might fetch.
|
|
Message is in Reply To:
2 Messages in This Thread:
  
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
