Ieko van der Meer has been a customer manager at Asito for more than 8.5 years and suffered financial problems for years. He tells his personal and impressive story.
Things were going extremely well for Ieko until 2011. He’d managed to build up a nice CV with various different employers and had two children. Ieko and his partner at the time ran a successful retail business for ten years. They could basically do whatever they felt like. And they really wanted for nothing. Until the situation appeared to change in 2011. The monthly sales figures started falling and various debts started to pile up. Ieko decided to become self employed in order to be able to pay the rent arrears. But this didn't prove to be a solution either. The situation continued to deteriorate, they could no longer afford to pay the bills and a business conflict arose with the landlord.
From bad to worse
Ieko: “We found ourselves in a terrible and unthinkable situation. But I genuinely believed we would find our way out of it with the right help. We therefore instantly called in legal assistance. And were advised to pay the rent arrears, which had certainly also significantly gone up in the meantime. But of course this was never going to be possible in one go and we ended up in a terrible situation. It went from bad to worse. Then one day we were confronted with the situation in the most horrific manner. The rent arrears had accumulated to such an extent that the landlord had decided to replace our shop’s locks. We were no longer able to enter the building, which meant we couldn’t access our stock and accounts either. We felt utterly powerless and angry at the same time. But I was in no doubt about one thing: the landlord replacing the locks was an unlawful act and we had rights. We were going to fight for this!
Daily confrontation
We had to face up to the fact that our financial situation meant we had no choice but to permanently close our shop’s doors. But the scene which unfolded once we were eventually able to gain access and clear out the shop, following the judge's approval, was nothing short of outrageous. The landlord had removed part of our stock and sold it. Fortunately, my lawyer was with me at the time and actually witnessed what had happened first-hand. A lawsuit was filed at my insistence. Because I absolutely knew I had the law on my side. We were eventually awarded compensation worth 65,000 euros. But this sadly didn’t resolve our financial problems. I was racked with guilt and the whole thing just felt like a huge failure. Especially where my children were concerned. I completely cut myself off from the social world and my circle became smaller and smaller. I felt incredibly ashamed about the situation I was in. And, to make matters worse, we were literally confronted with the situation every single day. Including visits from the bailiff, the red numbers on the bank account and the many lawsuits which subsequently followed. And whilst all of this was happening, my partner at the time fell ill. It felt like the absolute final nail in the coffin, but we still decided to persevere. We wanted to get rid of our debts once and for all. There was only one solution and that was to look for help.
Debt free in three years
We eventually managed to find a debt broker who helped us. They produced a detailed analysis of our financial situation, which showed a total debt of 180,000 euros. We sat down with the debt broker and came up with a plan which would see us debt free within three years. And that’s exactly what happened! It was genuinely a case of sheer persistence and survival. A tough period which we fortunately managed to get through. Every single part of your life is being scrutinised and analysed and you have to do everything within your power to pay a certain amount off every month. But we managed to do it. We were able to pay off more than what we’d agreed on within three years.”
Start a conversation
Ieko: ‘It may seem like your financial problems are insurmountable and that your future is bleak, but rest assured there’s always going to be a solution. Start a conversation and never stop believing in yourself. You should never feel ashamed of your situation. There are plenty of people, services and agencies out there which can help you. But you do have to ask for help yourself and get things moving. Keep believing in yourself and don't start believing in someone else's strengths. It's never too late. Never!’
My personal story
Things are going very well for Ieko at the moment. He’s very happy at Asito and his financial situation has now been stable again for years. Of course there’s still always a huge fear of getting back into financial trouble again. But he always makes sure there’s a buffer on his account. He’s now in a position to use his own experiences to effectively help colleagues with financial problems. Ieko: ‘I’ve noticed that I can get colleagues to start taking action with my personal story. My previous situation serves as an excellent example and I’m therefore certainly more than happy to give them a little shove in the right direction. Even making a difference for just one person or family already makes me very happy’.