PinnedDebt can happen to anyone. That’s why Debt Awareness Week 2023 is so important.Written by Gail Arkle, Director of Client Experience, StepChange Debt Charity Debt Awareness Week 2023. What is debt advice? The answer may seem obvious to those of us who work in or close to the sector, however our insight demonstrates that many people don’t understand the term or know that…Debt Advice3 min readDebt Advice3 min read
PinnedBreathing Space — how’s it really going?By Peter Tutton, Head of Policy, Research and Public Affairs As people in the debt advice world know, the Breathing Space scheme — the first ever statutory protection for people while they work through debt advice — has been running since May last year. Yet it’s attracted a share of…Breathing Space10 min readBreathing Space10 min read
Jan 24Marking 30 years of free debt adviceBy Phil Andrew, CEO of StepChange Debt Charity This week StepChange will mark 30 years of delivering free, impartial debt advice to those who need it. It’s an extraordinary milestone and I reflect with pride on how we’ve supported millions of our customers while the world has changed around us…Debt3 min readDebt3 min read
Nov 24, 2022A fresh start? Responding to the Insolvency Service review of the personal insolvency frameworkBy Ed McDonagh, Senior Public Policy Advocate The Insolvency Service’s recent call for evidence on the personal insolvency framework provides an opportunity to assess how well the framework is working from first principles. It will be no surprise to anyone that we see significant problems in the insolvency sector. It’s…Insolvency4 min readInsolvency4 min read
Aug 18, 2022Our thoughts on HM Treasury’s SDRP ConsultationBy Peter Tutton, Head of Policy, Research and Public Affairs The HM Treasury consultation on proposed Statutory Debt Repayment Plan (SDRP) regulations closed on 5 August. A link to StepChange’s response can be found here. StepChange remains a vocal supporter of the debt respite scheme — Breathing Space and the…Sdrp5 min readSdrp5 min read
Jul 19, 2022Top tips for parents worried about finances over school holidaysBy Andy Shaw, Debt Advice Policy Officer With over a third of parents worried their finances will suffer this summer, StepChange Debt Expert Andy Shaw shares his advice for saving money, getting all the help available and securing the best deals for families. The school holidays are set to begin…Summer6 min readSummer6 min read
Mar 22, 2022Stepping Up: our new strategy to 2025By Phil Andrew, CEO This week, it has been my absolute pleasure to unveil our new StepChange organisational strategy for the years to 2025. Originally planned to launch last year, uncertainties in the debt advice funding landscape gave us cause to pause, until in the end we decided that we…Strategy4 min readStrategy4 min read
Mar 21, 2022Debt awareness week: Let’s start the conversationBy Gail Arkle, Director of Client Experience Today marks the beginning of Debt Awareness Week, our annual campaign to raise awareness of problem debt and remind people that free, impartial advice is available. This year’s event comes at an incredibly difficult time. The past two years have seen Covid take…Debt3 min readDebt3 min read
Mar 4, 2022Why we’re being transparent about the performance of the IVAs we arrangeBy Peter Wordsworth, StepChange Head of Insolvency Services This week, the Insolvency Service published its annual data on the IVA market, including a firm-by-firm breakdown of volumes of new IVAs arranged in 2021, and sector-wide performance of IVAs taken out over previous years. Yet again, following years of the same…Iva6 min readIva6 min read
Feb 4, 2022Sapped and exhausted by energy bills?By Phil Andrew, CEO at StepChange Debt Charity. Yesterday’s announcement by Ofgem of a 54% increase in the energy price cap was followed swiftly by announcements from the Chancellor about interventions to “soften the blow”, and today the papers are full of analysis about what it means for different types…Energy Bills5 min readEnergy Bills5 min read
