Elaine paid over a quarter of a million in interest: "It is not wise"

Elaine Gustafsson has just over SEK 900,000 in debt with the Enforcement Officer.

She says that she ended up in debt in connection with the housing crash in the early 90's when she was forced to sell her house.

Then the situation escalated.

- It is unfortunate circumstances that have made me fall into the debt trap.

And it was early in life, says Elaine Gustafsson.

"I had three jobs at the same time"

She describes herself as a workaholic.

- When I was younger and had children then I had three jobs, she says.

But often, the money went directly to paying off the debts, according to her.

- You never see that money, they take the money before they get into the account, says Elaine Gustafsson.

SVT has reviewed Elaine's installments

SVT Nyheter Helsingborg has calculated three of Elaine's debts over an eight-year period, between 2011 and 2019.

The calculation, which is based on bank statements from the Enforcement Officer's archive, shows that Elaine paid almost SEK 150,000 more than she actually shopped for once.

And almost everything has been paid on interest and fees.

Today, Elaine has been granted debt restructuring.

Hear more about Elaine's payments in the video above.

The bailiff: "A system error"

The bailiff is critical of the fact that indebted people must pay the interest rather than the basic debt and wants to see a change in the law.

- The little you can pay only goes to interest and fees, never to the basic debt itself, we think it is a system error that makes people lie with us for decades with debts, says deputy national bailiff Cecilia Hegethorn Mogensen.

But the Enforcement Officer is rebuffed by the trade association Svenskt Inkasso.

Read more about it here.