Ex-pats Tragic Death Exposes Gambling Addiction by:David Matchett
Escaping from the damp streets of Glasgow to the tropical climate of the Caribbean
seemed like a wonderful opportunity to Caroline Sarin and her family, but when her husband was killed in a tragic road accident, this dream turned into a nightmare. Forced to return to the UK, Caroline found her husband had been secretly hiding his gambling addiction from her, and she was liable for his debt.
Caroline met Wayne Sarin in London in 1997 where they both worked in a call centre for a major telecoms company, and they quickly got engaged. Wayne was originally from Trincity in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, and in the three years before they got married they travelled to the island twice, staying with Wayne's welcoming family. Wayne was always keen to move back to Trinidad, and after being married for a 3 years and the birth of their daughter Nicole, Caroline agreed to emigrate.
A new life in paradise
"It was a totally crazy really, there was just too much to organise at once!" says Caroline. "We had a new child, had to work out travel and passports and visas and everything, say goodbye to our old friends and organise our new life in Trinidad. I spent most of my time looking after our daughter Nicole, and Wayne was in charge of the finances. We had a joint account but I rarely enquired about it. I trusted Wayne, why would I need to? I was busy working out the new mess of houses, schools, jobs and a million other things. Looking back I think I was completely unprepared, but we got there."
After 14 months of living in relatively simple accommodation in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad's capital, things were beginning to settle down. Caroline's daughter Nicole would soon be starting at the local school, Caroline had secured a good job working as a payroll administrator, and Wayne was working as a night-club promoter.
A late night call
"I got the call quite early, 11pm, I wasn't really expecting Wayne to be back until much later in the evening because he was working at the club, and I've never been sure why he was even driving at the time." says Caroline. "It was my sister-in-law, at first she wouldn't tell me what was wrong, she just kept saying to 'stay there'. But it was obvious from her tone that something was very wrong, and ultimately I got it out of her. She told me that Wayne had been in a road accident on the Churchill-Roosevelt bypass. I don't think she told me then that he had been killed instantly, but I somehow knew. It was such a shock I just put down the phone, I don't think I even hung up, and I went through to Nicole's room and just sat there with her until my sister-in-law Donna and her husband arrived.
Wayne had been in a three car accident involving a pick-up a saloon, and his car. Wayne was pronounced dead on the scene, as were his passenger, a work colleague, and two other victims of the crash had also been killed. It was later found that Wayne and the driver of the pick-up were both heavily inebriated while driving.
The funeral was held 5 days later, shortly before Trinidad's carnival was set to swing into place.
"Wayne's family were amazing, but I couldn't cope with losing Wayne and bringing up Nicole in a country I still didn't understand. Wayne didn't have life insurance, and I had very little money left. I had to get back home, and Wayne's family helped me book flights for me and Nicole a week after Wayne's funeral".
Counting the cost
Returning to the UK, Caroline sought solace from her family and friends. But there was to be a further turn of events as Caroline began to piece together her old life. The joint accounts she shared with Wayne had accumulated a huge amount of debt she was completely in the dark about.
"I found out from my bank that we had a maxed out 12,000 overdraft which had just been sitting mounting up debt, and the 3 credit cards that we had shared were also maxed out. Wayne had gotten us into over 35,000 of debt, and had never told me."
Bank statements show Wayne had been spending money on online gambling sites, playing Poker, Roulette and Blackjack at 3 different online gambling sites, as well as gambling at betting shops in Glasgow.
"He could have told me, he really could" says Caroline "but I think he thought we could disappear to the Caribbean and leave behind all this debt and never have to look back. But now I was burdened with it - the joint account meant it was all in my name. I was so angry at him."
Starting Again
Caroline sought advice from a financial advisor, and after weighing up her options, she set up an IVA (Individual Voluntary Agreement) to repay the debt with her creditors over a period of time. Some of the creditors reduced the debt due to Caroline's circumstances.
"My advice to others thinking about emigrating - I didn't know that Wayne was going to die, but we should have at least had a life insurance policy, we were moving abroad into the unknown, it was stupid. And if you must get a joint account make sure you keep an eye on what is going in and out of it, don't just leave it up to trust.".
Some resources regarding this article:
GamCare - Registered UK charity for gambling addiction
Ex-pat Life insurance - Guide to life insurance for ex-patriots
IVA advice - Professional advice on Individual Voluntary Agreements
About the author
David Matchett is an expert in ex-pat life insurance, having worked in the industry for 12 years.
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