Scottish Debt Advice and Information
The Credit Services Association (CSA), a trade body that represents debt recovery and purchase organisations, has raised its concerns that new guidelines for the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) may exacerbate the position many consumers find themselves in when struggling with problem debts. The Standard Financial Statement, which the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) have recommended be […]
New proposals by the Scottish Government to introduce changes to the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) are to be welcomed (See Debt Arrangement Scheme: The Way Forward). However, the question is, do they go far enough to save the Scheme, which saw a 49% reduction in take up following the introduction of changes in 2014-15 and […]
The announcement that North Ayrshire Citizen Advice Service (NACAS) is closing its doors at the end of this month, after twenty years, brings into sharp focus the critical issue of funding that advice agencies in Scotland are now facing. It also urgently underlines the need for a national discussion on how front-line advice services are […]
The largest survey of UK debt advisers has been launched to gain an insight into how they support clients that are in vulnerable situations. The new research, which is asking for advice agencies to sign up and participate in the project, is being carried out by the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PRFC), […]
In the 1970s, Margaret Thatcher was accused of being a “milk snatcher” when she attempted to end free milk in schools for all over sevens. It was a name that haunted her for the rest of her career. It would be a sad indictment on the Scottish Government, so soon after they passed the Child […]
After the home ownership revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, when millions of tenants were sold the dream of owning their own home, the UK Government is now rolling out the final chapter in that dream for many. The proposed changes to the Support for Mortgage Interest Scheme reads like an original Grimm Brothers fairy […]
Peter Wyman’s review into the funding of the debt Advice sector in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, is disappointing. It contains few observations of note, is uninspiring and was not insightful. The one statement I found myself agreeing with was when he stated: “However, as all good authors say, the opinions, conclusions and recommendations […]
As the practice of buying and selling old debts has grown, money advisers across Scotland are now witnessing a rise in the number of people being pursued for old debts. Over the last few years, I have seen many clients in this situation and have heard of similar cases from other advisers. Many of the […]
It is not unusual for clients in formal debt solutions to find they are still subject to debt recovery action by the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) for benefit overpayments, when they believed such action should have stopped. So can the DWP still recover overpaid benefits whilst a claimant is in a formal debt […]
Scottish money advice services should pay particular attention to the plans of the UK Treasury for statutory debt management and breathing space schemes for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The schemes, which will not be extended to Scotland, as they fall within areas devolved to the Scottish Parliament, are already provided for by the Debt […]