New Money and Pensions Service toolkit aims to strengthen collaboration between creditors and debt advisers

• New toolkit to help improve referrals to free debt advice and simplify engagement between creditors and debt advisers.
•  Created for different types of creditors, including those working across financial services, utilities, debt collection and local and central government.
• First update in five years to reflect changes in the debt recovery landscape and better support customers experiencing vulnerability, mental health challenges or economic abuse.

MaPS’ new Supportive debt recovery toolkit replaces ‘Working collaboratively with debt advice agencies: a strategic toolkit for creditors’ and sets out what fair, supportive and sustainable debt recovery should look like in 2026.

The new toolkit provides practical guidance for creditors across financial services, utilities, debt collection and local and central government, helping them to strengthen collaboration with debt advice agencies and achieve better outcomes for people in financial difficulty.

The toolkit also contains real-world examples of good practice and encourages creditors to place greater emphasis on early intervention, affordable repayment arrangements and evidence-based support that helps people manage their debts and find a way forward with their finances.

The updates reflect significant changes in the debt recovery landscape, including new regulatory expectations, advances in technology and a growing focus on identifying and supporting people who may be vulnerable or struggling to pay.

Christy McAleese, Head of Debt Policy and Strategy at the Money and Pensions Service, said:

“Stronger working partnerships between creditors and the debt advice sector can help people affected by problem debt access the right support at the right time, enabling earlier intervention and a better customer journey.

“We know that financial difficulties can affect people in very different ways. This toolkit encourages collectors to look beyond traditional approaches and respond appropriately to individual circumstances and vulnerabilities.”

Kevin Shaw, Senior Creditor Strategy Manager at the Money and Pensions Service, said:

“A supportive approach to debt recovery helps people in financial difficulty achieve better outcomes while also benefiting the organisations collecting debt.

“Evidence consistently shows that creditors who work collaboratively with debt advice agencies are more likely to support fair treatment, achieve sustainable repayment arrangements, improve customer engagement and reduce collection and enforcement costs.”

The toolkit is available to download for free on the MaPS website.

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• The Money and Pensions Service commissions debt advice in England and does not provide advice directly. Instead, we sign post the public to a range of debt providers through our MoneyHelper debt advice locatorOpens in a new window.

• MoneyHelperOpens in a new window is our consumer-facing service, offering free and impartial money and pensions guidance that is backed by government.
• It brings together the support and services of three former government-backed financial guidance providers: Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise.
• MoneyHelper offers clear guidance online, over the phone and face-to-face and points users to other sources of trusted information, if they need more support.