MAS debt approach hailed as “breakthrough for lenders and borrowers”

The toolkit encourages creditors to examine their debt collection strategies and collaborate with the debt advice sector to better support customers in financial difficulty.

MAS says this is the first time that all major debt advice agencies and creditors have worked together to raise standards of creditor practice by using a toolkit, benefiting both creditors and debt clients alike.

The toolkit was developed with active input from creditors, debt advice agencies, trade bodies and other organisations to compare examples of best practice.

One of these was Kevin Shaw, a Debt Advice Policy Analyst with Computershare’s Loan Services division, who is currently on secondment to MAS, Computershare also played a role in the industry workshops that guided the project.

Andrew Jones, Chief Executive Officer at Computershare Loan Services, said: “This new toolkit represents a genuine breakthrough for both lenders and borrowers and will play an important role in helping thousands of people across the country better manage their finances."
 
Sheila Wheeler, Director of UK Debt Advice at the Money Advice Service, commented: “This is one of the first times that creditors and debt agencies have come together to articulate good practice for collaboration between the two sectors. It is important for debt clients to receive fair and consistent treatment when they fall behind on payments and this toolkit will provide a benchmark for creditors to work to."