#debt-relief

TL;DR: If your credit report is looking a little rough, 2025 might just be your year to bounce back. In this post, we break down the top credit repair services that actually deliver results—no fluff, no scams, just clean-up crews for your credit. Let’s be real—bad credit can feel like carrying around a financial scarlet letter. Whether it’s due to medical debt, missed payments, or plain ol’ life…

Our response to the Peter Wyman Review of Debt Advice Funding

By Phil Andrew, Chief Executive, StepChange Debt CharityPeter Wyman’s independent review of the funding of debt [PDF, 11.2mb] was published yesterday afternoon.With the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill in Parliament also setting out a new strategic framework for debt advice funding, the report delivers a frank and timely assessment of where the sector is now. There’s a clear direction of travel for debt advice providers if we’re to meet the challenge of getting debt advice to everyone who needs it.The review reaffirms some things that we know. Problem debt causes people severe harm, which in turn creates huge social costs, and that debt advice is playing a vital role in limiting harm and cost.Peter Wyman’s judgment, that the amount of free debt advice needs to rise by 50% in two years, looks a realistic assessment. But there’s currently a gap between demand for debt advice and the capacity to provide it; the report highlights a general consensus that demand’s likely to increase in the future.Here the report’s clear: Extra resource will be needed to achieve this aim. We welcome the confirmation that the current ‘mixed economy’ of funding methods is working and no fundamental rethink is necessary.The value and central importance of fair share in the funding landscape is recognised with a call for fair share funding to not only continue, but to expand along the principle that all those who benefit from it should pay.As a charity that’s primarily funded through fair share, we’re confident that putting this principle into practice will allow us to help more people with a wider range of needs.Wyman is very clear in arguing that the advice gap can’t be sustainably met solely through a linear increase in funding. Debt advice providers have to do their bit through improving quality and committing to ambitious efficiency improvements.Improving efficiency is at the heart of report’s vision for a future debt advice sector. Channel shift, avoiding duplication, closer co-operation and smarter use of existing and emerging technologies are cited in a strategic objective for free-to-client providers to commit to 20% efficiency savings over the next two years.This target is ambitious and perhaps even aggressive. Crucially, it’s achievable, continuing (albeit at a faster pace) on a path that the free sector has been walking for the past few years.We’re already heavily invested in our own ‘Transformation’ programme — a radical re-tooling of technology and ways of working that should leave us fit to meet the challenge that Peter Wyman describes.It’s also fair to say that the free advice sector is already, step-by-step, finding value from collaborative solutions to the shared problem of meeting demand.Finally, the attention to quality is both welcome and absolutely necessary to the Wyman strategy. Driving up efficiency should never come at the expense of good client outcomes.If we’re not focused on reducing harm and helping people regain control of their finances then we’re not about anything.The Financial Guidance and Claims Bill opened up questions about the need for setting and monitoring standards, and how this can be improved in an FCA regulated environment. Wyman gives a useful road map for progress here.However, better quality assurance is not quite the same thing as delivering the right client outcomes. As we focus harder on efficiency, we gain a better understanding that some of our clients require more support, and this in turn needs to be reflected in sector funding models.This tension between efficiency and meeting diverse client needs is being played out right now in the still emerging ‘vulnerable clients’ agenda, as seen in the FCA Financial Lives and Consumer Approach documents.This is the area where the Wyman strategy is underdeveloped. While efficiency gains can increase our capacity generally, they must also increase our ability to give our more vulnerable clients the support they need.

Stuck in the red: experiences of being in an overdraft debt

By Laura Rodrigues, Senior Public Policy AdvocateOverdrafts are widely used to help manage household finances. However, problems arise where people get stuck in their arranged overdraft for a long period of time and where they’re hit repeatedly by charges for going over their overdraft limit. This can lead to the accumulation of persistent and unmanageable debt.Our new overdraft research, published yesterday, found that over 2 million people a year are constantly overdrawn. Around half our clients have an overdraft debt, and this research looks into our clients’ experiences.Stuck in a cycle of borrowingMany of our clients regularly had to use overdrafts to cover the cost of everyday living essentials. They described being stuck in a cycle of borrowing, where income goes into their bank account and is immediately used to repay their overdraft. Then, to cover their living costs and bills, they’re pushed further overdrawn.“All my salary paid for my outgoings. My overdraft was what I used to live on. Once I had gone into it, it was hard to get out!”“We were in a never-ending cycle of debt, we’d be out of the overdraft for the first 2-3 days of the month then straight back in it as soon as bills started coming out. Very demoralising!”“I was always near my overdraft limit therefore sought other finance options to fund living expenses and unforeseen costs. This caused my debt to spiral out of control as I was paying off debt with debt.”Being constantly hit by chargesThe interest and charges associated with overdrafts, particularly costly unarranged overdraft charges, were raised as a specific issue that compounded financial problems:“Kept getting charged for going overdrawn which in turn would then go even more overdrawn the following month.”“The charges were astronomical at nearly a hundred pounds a month. There was no way to get out as the overdraft just built and built due to charges.”“Charges applied when going over limit of overdraft were very high. Some months I paid over £100 just in fees. I got stung nearly every month as needed money to pay bills, get food etc.”Turning to the bank for helpMany clients were not helped by their bank or offered a suitable way out of their debt problems. Some even continued to be hit by charges after asking for help.However, others did have positive experiences and were offered a freeze on interest and charges, an affordable way to repay their debt and where appropriate were sent to free debt advice. This indicates that there’s good practice in the industry; we need more widespread, coordinated action to build on this.Action to tackle persistent overdraft debtUrgent action is now needed to prevent overdraft debt problems from occurring in the first place and to help those stuck in this cycle of borrowing to escape.We’re calling for:1. The end to unarranged overdraft charges. The banks should stop unarranged overdraft charges where a consumer is identified as being vulnerable. Unarranged overdraft charges are costly and outdated, and the FCA should abolish them.2. The banks to identify and support customers struggling with persistent overdraft debt. This would involve finding triggers and proactively identifying customers who are struggling. They’d then be offered support, including reducing or freezing interest and charges, to separate the debt from day-to-day banking facilities, and set up affordable repayment plans.3. An FCA investigation into unaffordable lending in the overdraft market. We need this in order to ensure short-term overdraft lending doesn’t become long-term, unsustainable and persistent debt.