Supportive debt recovery toolkit

Download options:

• The full supportive debt recovery toolkit (PDF, 6.9MB)

• Ability to pay and the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) (PDF, 1.3MB)
• Strengthening creditor referrals to debt advice (PDF, 1MB)
• Simplifying access for third party debt advisers (PDF, 1.6MB)
• Supporting customers through specialist interventions (PDF, 1.9MB)
• The MaPS Supportive creditor framework (PDF, 2MB)

The toolkit includes:

• practical guidance
• evidence and case studies
• examples of good practice from the public, private, utility and financial services sectors.

This resource sets out what ‘good’ looks like in modern debt recovery and highlights the opportunities for creditors to strengthen partnership working with the debt advice sector.

The toolkit focuses on four key themes:

• strengthening referrals to debt advice through earlier intervention, improved customer journeys and modern referral pathways that help people access support at the right time
• assessing ability to pay using the Standard Financial Statement (SFS) to support fair, consistent and sustainable repayment arrangements based on an objective assessment of a customer's circumstances
• simplifying access for third-party debt advisers by promoting more consistent communication channels, streamlined authorisation processes and stronger operational collaboration between creditors and debt advice providers
• supporting customers through specialist interventions, including approaches to mental health, economic abuse, the Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form (DMHEF), the Economic Abuse Evidence Form (EAEF) and Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space. 

The toolkit also includes our supportive creditor framework. This is a voluntary self-assessment tool that helps organisations: 

• benchmark their current approach
• identify opportunities for improvement and 
• understand what constitutes below standard, good practice and leading practice.

The toolkit is intended for those seeking to improve outcomes for their customers while strengthening the effectiveness of their debt recovery activity, including:

• all creditors in the public and private sectors
• suppliers of debt collection services
• policy professionals and operational leaders. 

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

Evidence shows that creditors who work collaboratively with debt advice agencies are more likely to: 

• achieve sustainable repayment arrangements
• improve customer engagement
• reduce collection and enforcement costs
• support fair treatment.

We also continue to provide sector-specific resources, including Supportive Council Tax recovery (PDF, 11.6MB), which remains available and will be reviewed and updated separately.