Drowning in debt: Budget services reveal clients' owe $50m - and rising 20 Apr, 2021 06:00 PM 5 minutes to read Some people in the Bay are drowning in debt. Photo / Getty Images Struggling Bay of Plenty families are drowning in debt - with cripplingly high-interest loans driving many to despair. Two Bay budget services, whose clients have accumulated more than $50 million in arrears, say debt levels are soaring, along with housing costs, and the financial fallout of Covid-19 on working families is still being felt. Some clients were struggling to survive, people were sleeping in cars and children were going to school hungry.