Advice Scotland will shortly be partnering up with The Carrington Dean Group Ltd to offer telephone advice to any visitors who want personalised advice on their situation.

Carrington Group are one of the Scotland’s largest providers of formal debt solutions and are also the largest payment distributor for the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

They are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and do not charge for the advice they provide. 

The reason I have decided to enter into this arrangement, is because visitors to Advice Scotland have increased and I have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people contacting me for advice.

Traditionally I have alway resisted the temptation to provide personalised advice, based on individual’s circumstances, and instead have focused on providing generic information on debt.

I have also always referred people onto free sources of advice, such as those provided by Citizen Advice Bureaux and also Local Authority Money Advice Agencies, and will continue to do so.

Provision of Telephone Advice

However, it is clear to me there are people who would like a telephone call and an opportunity to discuss their situation with someone, which is not something I am able to do.

Advice Scotland, has always been a personal blog  and was never intended to become a provider of advice services.

However, the new Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2019 have created a new opportunity.

Firms like Carrington Dean can now provide access to the Debt Arrangement Scheme without charging a fee, which means if anyone requests a call from them, the advice they will receive will be from a firm:

• Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority;
• That doesn’t charge for the advice they provide; and
• Can also provide free access to the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

No Service Provides Access to all Solutions

It is true Carrington Dean does not provide access to all solutions, such as Minimum Asset Bankruptcies, however, there are few organisations that provide access to all solutions. Stepchange in Scotland passes cases to insolvency practitioners, for a fee; as do all Citizen Advice Bureaux and Local Authority Money Advisers (albeit not for a fee). Carrington Dean don’t, as they are also insolvency Practitioners.

Carrington Dean, also, do not do Debt Management Plans, which in a Scottish context, have become heavily discredited, because of the existence of the Debt Arrangement Scheme; and will also act as the Payment Distributor in cases, meaning they will be a one stop free-provider for that solution.

Once launched, if anyone wishes a call back, they will be able to request it and their information will be sent directly to the Carrington Dean Case Management System. One of their team will then call the client back. People will have to agree to share their information with Carrington Dean

Carrington Dean will provide all the advice.

This new relationship won’t influence the content of Advice Scotland , which will remain, as was always intended, to be my personal blog site.