Why I Left Regulation to Rebuild the Debt System From the Inside Out

I’ve Seen Debt From Every Side

Personally, I’ve carried six figures of debt three separate times in my life. I’ve negotiated, I’ve survived, I’ve paid it down alone. I know the shame. I know the silence.

Professionally. I’ve spent over a decade inside the financial system:

• Senior Adjudicator at the UK Financial Ombudsman Service

• AVP of Compliance at Barclaycard and Santander

• Founder of a DEI + AI consultancy trusted by NHS trusts, Formula E, and Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation

I’ve been the regulator. The risk consultant. The founder. The debtor.

So I built Vera.

The Problem Isn’t AI, It’s Access

Creditors already use automation. Collections teams already optimise.

But the average person?

They get generic budgeting tips. Punitive repayment plans. Or they disappear from the system entirely.

That’s why we built Vera, a clarity-first support system that actually negotiates back.

Upload a debt letter. Vera responds instantly, with dignity. Not with advice or regulator-aligned responses, personalised to your real-life situation.

This Is Public Infrastructure

The UK has an £8B council tax debt crisis. Millions more are struggling silently with BNPL, overdrafts, and rising arrears. And behind every missed payment is a moment like this:

It’s 2AM. A single mum in Birmingham opens a letter she’s been avoiding — a liability order from the council. Her heart races. She uploads it to Vera. Within minutes, she has a plain-English breakdown, a legally aligned response letter, and a payment plan she can actually afford. No phone calls. No shame.

That’s what public-interest tech looks like.

So we’re building it:

• Trained on real enforcement letters + FCA-aligned logic

• Built for Consumer Duty, AI governance, and future FCA authorisation

• Launching with unregulated council tax — and mapping toward full regulatory compliance

• Architected for integration with councils, BNPLs, and utilities, with our AI negotiation API scoped for 2025/26 pilots

We’re not replacing services. We’re rebalancing power.

Naming the Category

This isn’t a budgeting app. This isn’t another debt chatbot.

We’re building the world’s first debt negotiation infrastructure — a smart systems layer trusted by people and licensed by institutions.

Because no one should need a law degree — or a panic attack — to understand a debt letter.

Why Me. Why Now.

Because no one else was going to build this. Not from inside the system. Not with both regulatory fluency and lived experience. Not with the clarity to say:

“AI won’t save us. But what we build with it can.”

I prototyped the engine myself. I drafted the policy paper from scratch. And I’m inviting regulators, funders, and ecosystem partners to co-author the next chapter.

What’s Next

We’re:

• Publishing our public-facing policy paper to invite early collaboration with the FCA

• Hosting an Insider Roundtable with regulators, civic fintech investors, and public-sector allies

• Raising our £2M pre-seed to build the MVP and secure our first B2B2C pilots in 2025 and 2026

This isn’t speculative. It’s already in motion.

Call to Alignment

If you believe debt resolution should be fast, fair, and data-driven, Vera is your platform.

If you believe in building public-interest infrastructure that serves people first, join us.

Whether you’re:

• A regulator shaping safe AI that serves the public

• An investor backing the infrastructure of the next financial era

• A council, BNPL, or utility ready to pilot AI negotiation at scale

We’re ready to build with you.

This isn’t just innovation. This is inevitability.