The 42 year old works as an academic quality officer at Edge Hill University has two children - Claire, aged 21, and Alex, who's eight.
Susan has recently divorced and the former family home was repossessed, which has left her in a tricky position.
When the home she had shared with her former husband was sold, there was a £42,000 shortfall that both of them are jointly liable for. Now Susan is being pressed for payment in full.
This upsetting situation is being faced by a number of people as they break up and discover the housing market has brought down the value of their shared home.
Dealing with debt
Susan explained: "It is causing a significant amount of worry... I have tried to get information and advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau but they are so busy that they can't even answer the phone let alone offer an appointment."
According to Susan, the lender has so far refused her request to negotiate payments and wants the money paid back immediately.
We turned to our in-house mortgage expert, Louise Cumming, for some informed advice on her mortgage shortfall situation.
Expert help
Louise said: "I'm quite surprised by the apparent attitude of the lender in this situation.
"All borrowers are 'jointly and severally' responsible for a mortgage debt, which means the lender should chase the shortfall equally from both parties if they were still both on the mortgage deed at the time of repossession.
"What's more, there is a legal responsibility for the lender to treat cases of financial hardship sympathetically. What it should be doing is assessing the income and expenditure situation for both borrowers and agree an 'affordable' repayment schedule to clear the sale shortfall."
So what should Susan do? Louise recommended she keep talking to her provider to negotiate a fair and affordable repayment plan.
"I suggest Susan approaches the mortgage provider and asks for written confirmation that her ex is being equally pursued for this debt. She should also make a written request for monthly payments to be set up, which she can support by including details of her income and outgoings."
Where can Susan save money?
Susan's already pretty good at shopping around. However, there were some areas where we found savings for her. We managed to reduce her outgoings by £524.30 a year.
Susan's current car insurance policy is with HSBC and she is paying £540 a year for it. But Susan is a pretty good bet for any insurer - she has had her licence for a decade and has made no claims in the last five years with no claims.
Using the moneysupermarket.com comparison tool, we found that she would only have to pay £313.96 a year if she moved to Swiftcover, saving her £226.04.
Like thousands of other people in the UK, Susan could pay much less for her phone, TV and broadband if she used a bundle deal from one supplier for them all.
Just now, she has her phone with BT, and her TV and broadband with Sky. She's already saving £20 on her broadband, because she has a deal where she doesn't have to pay for it until January, but there are further savings to be had.
If she shifts her phone line to Sky as well, she'll save £120 over the year.
Susan's current account is always in the black so she doesn't have to worry about overdraft costs. However, she's currently with Natwest, which pays just 0.1% on balances in credit. If she moved to Alliance & Leicester's Premier account she could take advantage of its current switching incentive and net herself £100.
Premier customers also receive free European Travel insurance which is another good bonus. That would be useful for Susan as she does tend to go abroad at least once a year on holiday.
Thousands of people could save money on their gas and electricity by using an online account and that includes Susan. She's currently with Scottish Power and is paying £68 a month for electricity - she doesn't have gas.
If she switched to the British Gas WebSaver 4 deal, she'd save £58.26 a year. Plus, by paying online, she can enter her own meter readings regularly, and be confident that she isn't over or underpaying because of a faulty estimation.
Do you think we could save you money? If so, and you would like to feature as one of our makeovers, contact us at makeover@moneysupermarket.com
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