debt advice

Almost two million Buy Now Pay Later customers are now using it for essential items, new research suggests. Over 10 million use BNPL and half have a bill they haven’t yet paid off. Half of those owe more than £100. BNPL is changing how people shop and rising prices have increased its usage. MaPS urges anyone who’s struggling to visit its MoneyHelper service. A survey of 2,507...

Deficit (or negative) budgets have been a feature of debt advice for several years. However, providers have reported significant growth in clients with deficit budgets lately. Despite the debt advice sector’s familiarity with these clients, achieving good outcomes for them is not easy and this creates challenges not just for the clients themselves, but for advisers and the sector’s...

Earlier this year we published a blog on the overall findings of our latest Debt Need Survey, which measures the number of UK adults who need debt advice. Here, Debt Insight Manager Paul Das looks at what the survey tells us about the financial wellbeing of 18–24-year-olds in the UK. Our definition of “needing debt advice” is that a person needs to go through a regulated advice process...

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is taking action to ensure we keep meeting the needs of debt advice clients, many of whom are presenting with increasingly complex cases. After feedback from advisers and advice organisations, along with our own research, MaPS has recognised that there has been a significant rise in case complexity in recent years. In response, together with the...

Our 2022 Debt Need Survey, looked at the need for debt advice and how households are reacting to changes in the cost of living. This technical report covers the approach that MaPS took to the survey, working with research agency Alligator. The report goes into detail on how we executed each aspect of the project from questionnaire development, interviewing and data processing. Insights...

Debt Insight Manager Paul Das shares what we know about the changes in how many people need debt advice, who might need advice in the future and how people are responding to changes in the cost of living. In 2021, MaPS adopted a new way of measuring the need for debt advice and we reported back on who needed debt advice using the results from our 2021 debt need survey, including an...

Knowing what works in solving problem debt is vital. The completion of a two-year quantitative pilot longitudinal study (PLS) by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) marks the first steps towards developing a longitudinal study to build an in-depth understanding of the medium and long-term impacts that debt advice can have. A study of this kind has rarely, if ever, been attempted either...

Kani Kundu, Sector Support Executive and experienced Debt Adviser, talks about changes to Google’s debt services advertising policy and how this will help to protect consumers seeking information and support with their finances. The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) hugely welcome Google’s announcement of changes to its debt service advertising policy, which mean that only organisations...

Caroline Siarkiewicz, Chief Executive of the Money and Pensions Service said: “This is an extremely positive development both for people struggling with debt and for the debt advice sector whose support and expertise changes lives. “Google’s action will materially reduce the visibility of potentially harmful, misleading and misrepresentative debt service advertising. We are aware in...

Today, the Money and Pensions Service is announcing the outcome of its debt advice commissioning process for England, through which it is providing more comprehensive debt advice services for many more people. Following a thorough and detailed evaluation of all the bids received, MaPS is pleased to announce that it intends – subject to the conclusion of the mandatory...

One in five Buy Now Pay Later customers using it for essential items

Findings from call for evidence on debt advice clients with deficit budgets

Why do so many young people need debt advice?

MaPS makes changes to debt advice grants in response to increased complexity of client cases in community-based services

Technical Report: 2022 Debt Need Survey

Need for debt advice and how households are reacting to changes in the cost of living

Understanding the long-term impact of debt advice

Changes to advertising policy for debt services to better support consumers

Media comment: Google’s announcement of changes to its debt service advertising policy

Money and Pensions Service announces intention to award contracts for national and business debt advice services and the administration of debt relief orders in England

Managing money in uncertain times