Indebted lives: the complexities of life in debt – Money Advice Service

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Across the UK approximately 8.8 million people are over-indebted. These are individuals who have been at least three months behind with their bills in the last six months or have said that they feel their debts are a heavy burden. This large and diverse group represents 18% of the UK adult population and within it […]

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Across the UK approximately 8.8 million people are over-indebted. These are individuals who have been at least three months behind with their bills in the last six months or have said that they feel their debts are a heavy burden. This large and diverse group represents 18% of the UK adult population and within it there are a range of different levels of knowledge and skills, and different attitudes and behaviours towards debt and seeking advice.
In order to provide a clearer picture of the different needs of this group, and how they can be helped through advice services, the Money Advice Service commissioned a piece of research to analyse their characteristics and to identify smaller sub-groups that display similar situations, attitudes and motivations.
Commenting on the MAS findings, Caroline Rookes, CEO of the Money Advice Service said:

“Millions of people could escape their spiral of debt by accessing free advice. We know it transforms lives and the sooner people access it the better – to take steps to improve their life for good. However, this study presents us with a fundamental challenge: the majority of people with debt difficulties do not seek advice. This is the first time we’ve had such a detailed understanding of the complexity of their lives. So now, armed with greater insights, we will work with advice agencies, creditors, and public bodies to help as many people as possible access free, high-quality, debt advice.”

Read the report in full (PDF) (see attached if link doesn't work)



via Indebted lives: the complexities of life in debt – Money Advice Service.

[Amethyst]

Re: Indebted lives: the complexities of life in debt – Money Advice Service

indebted lives the complexities of life in debt november 2013 pdf version (page 1 - 30 )

Executive summary
Our research shows that of the 8.8 million people who are over-indebted, just over
four million have been struggling to pay their bills for more than a year. 48% of
them feel that being in debt is preventing them from buying the basics, and this
figure rises for those with families.
Looking at the over-indebted population as a whole, the research reveals that the
majority is of working age with 58% in work and 48% living in privately-owned homes.
Half have a household income of less than £20,000 per annum, and women are
over-represented, accounting for 64% of the whole. The age profile of people struggling
with their debt peaks between the ages of 35–44, with people in this age band making
up 32% of the overall group; however, it drops significantly as people reach the age of
55 and above.
The over-indebted population is spread disproportionately across the UK and there is a
general skew towards the cities of the north of England and to Northern Ireland. The
research shows the percentage of people against the whole population in each local
authority who are over-indebted. The top five over-indebted areas have more than 40%
of their total population struggling with debts.
City of Kingston upon Hull 43.1%
Nottingham 41.2%
Manchester 41.1%
Knowsley 40.7%
Liverpool 40.6%
At the other end of the scale the part of the UK with the lowest percentage of
over-indebted people is the South East with Richmond upon Thames having just 1.2%
of its population struggling with debt. A list of all local authority areas across the UK and
the proportion of the population of those areas who are over-indebted is in appendix 1
to this report.
Although the majority of the over-indebted population report that their debt is having a
negative impact on their lives, only 17% of people are currently receiving advice to get
help dealing with their debts.

The fact that only this number of people access advice currently reinforces the
importance of breaking down the over-indebted population as a whole into smaller
segments so that the range of different needs, attitudes and behaviours can be better
understood to get people to the advice they need.

[Amethyst]

Re: Indebted lives: the complexities of life in debt – Money Advice Service

indebted lives the complexities of life in debt november 2013 pdf part 2 (page 30-44) (had to split the report due to file size)

[Amethyst]

Re: Indebted lives: the complexities of life in debt – Money Advice Service

2014-15 Business Plan Consultation

The Money Advice Service is seeking views and comments on its draft business plan for 2014-15.
Our plans for 2014/15 include:

• extending the reach of our free and impartial money advice, with the aim of 15 million customer contacts coming to the Service
• stepping up efforts to stop people when they are going about their daily business, getting them to think about their money and take action to improve their finances; our target is for 4.5 million actions to be taken by people after coming to the Service
• further evaluating our Service to understand what works to change people’s financial behaviours
• helping customers to get advice from regulated advisers or elsewhere, if we are unable to provide it ourselves
• providing secure funding for free debt advice in England and Wales, through three year grant agreements with partners
• working with the debt sector to ensure that advice is provided where there are gaps, to get advice to those who need it most and to ensure that people are able to access advice in the way that best suits their needs
• developing and delivering A Financial Capability Strategy for the UK in collaboration with stakeholders
• delivering all of this, whilst reducing our budget by £0.8 million.

Please send your responses to businessplan@moneyadviceservice.org.uk by Friday 14 February 2014.
Following the consultation and final approval by the Financial Services Authority, we will publish our finalised plan in March 2014.

• Download the Money Advice Service Business Plan Consultation in full. (PDF)