The Daily Mail (27 August 2026) tells the story of Shelley Kavanagh and Rosie Heys, co-founders of the campaign Divorce Without Debt, who were left with a combined £1.3 million in debt after taking out litigation loans to fund their divorces.
As the Mail reports both women were steered into loans from lender Novitas on their solicitors’ insistence — money paid directly into the law firms’ accounts, accruing interest at up to 18% a year. Shelley’s debt reached £360,000, wiping out most of her settlement and separating her from her three children. Rosie’s grew by £600 a day to roughly £950,000, more than double what she borrowed.
With the Civil Justice Council recommending regulation and the Government pledging reform of litigation funding agreements, campaigners — including Fair Civil Justice’s Seema Kennedy — are demanding cost transparency, affordability checks and proper oversight before more families are ruined.
Check out the full story here (paywall)