Disabled people in debt face `Double Disadvantage`

The Double Disadvantage report from Citizens Advice shows that disabled people are facing `additional debt difficulties` as some creditors don`t take their specific needs into account. Campaigners say creditors are not always complying with the Equality Act 2010, as reported in the Guardian.

One example of this is non-braille correspondence being sent to a blind customer, including letters telling him he`d entered his overdraft.

Another example cited involves a blind lady with `extensive care and mobility needs`. After being contacted by a mobility scooter company, she informed them that she did not want to take out finance.

She was visited by a representative anyway and `felt pressurised` enough to take out finance to pay for something she knew she couldn`t really afford. She was left repaying a debt for a scooter that didn`t work, after it broke down and was not repaired or replaced.

The Equality Act lays down important rights for disabled people `not to be discriminated against or harassed` . Those in debt may feel disempowered already and disabled people are facing a "double disadvantage" if creditors don`t take their needs into account, says the charity`s chief executive, Gillian Guy.