He had two lodgers in his home generating £800 in monthly income, but the majority of this was going towards his mortgage.
Mr Flynn, who turns 62 next month, said: “I tried to live off my lodgers and Universal Credit during the pandemic. Then I’d planned to take an early retirement. I gave up on the loan because they were asking for so much interest – I never knew it would come to this.”
Everyday Loans, which markets itself as “the friendly UK lender”, advertises a 99.9pc representative annual percentage rate – the maximum amount of interest lenders can charge.
Mr Flynn’s loan grew and grew, until – in January 2023 – Everyday Loans issued a bankruptcy order against him. Any debt over £5,000 can trigger one.
But despite the loan snowballing further to around £9,000, Mr Flynn said, once other fees were applied – including for the court, insolvency service and trustee – he owed an eye-watering £65,000. This included a £6,000 charge by the Government’s Insolvency Service.
The debt – 4,200pc more than what he initially borrowed – triggered the repossession of Mr Flynn’s home in April, forcing both his lodgers, one of whom he is a carer for, out too. The house sold for £117,000, with a £22,000 mortgage on it.
Mr Flynn is currently living in council accommodation, and has now received £25,000 back from the forced sale of his home.
He said: “On Google, it told me I could oppose it. So I contacted the court to do this. But I got a letter through the door saying they’d gone to court without me. I was judged bankrupt and taken to the Insolvency Service.
“All I had was my house. I had no money to get the order annulled. So I was appointed a trustee. I didn’t think it would come to this in my wildest dreams. Some people don’t believe me when I tell them.”
The dad-of-three had intended to leave his house to his children, who have children of their own.
Mr Flynn says he does not want compensation, he just wants his house of 25 years back.