Helping over-indebted consumers

[Legal Beagles]

A survey by the National Audit Office (NAO) survey found that 81 per cent of people who received the advice said it helped compared to 69 per cent for advice received from a fee charging professional and 59 per cent for advice received from a bank.
The NAO has published a report examining the cost effectiveness of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’s (BIS’s) face-to-face advice project and the coordination of BIS’s debt advice with other sources of advice in supporting the over-indebtedness strategy. The support provided by BIS covers both:

• free face-to-face advice delivered exclusively through a project working with third sector providers, such as Citizens Advice, and delivered through 16 national and regional sub-projects; and
• National Debtline, a telephone advice line funded by government and the private sector.

NAO reports that UK consumers had some £1,459 billion of outstanding debt as at November 2009, and personal borrowing represented 160 per cent of household annual pre-tax income. Over-indebtedness means that an individual is no longer able to service their debts.
Findings show that BIS’s face-to-face advice project is delivering good value for money, and makes recommendations for further efficiencies supporting the wider over-indebtedness strategy.
Further information on the report is available on the National Audit Office website.


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