‘My partner’s crazy spending ruined me’: the ugly truth about coerced debt

Charity calls for banking industry to take totally new approach over type of financial abuse that leaves victims saddled with unpayable debts

Joanna Thomas* was working for a UK government department when she received a bonus. Her earnings, as had been the case since she got married in her early 20s, went into her only bank account: a joint one shared with her now ex-husband.

The cash landed in the account in the morning. By the afternoon, her then-husband messaged to let her know he had withdrawn it all to buy a boat on eBay.