Debt Reckoning

Who remembers Debt Advice? As you may have heard, in 2026, the IMA is celebrating its 20th year - so we decided to take a trip into the past with two guests who were there at the very beginning, to talk about what life was like as a debt adviser in those days, what's changed, and what the future might look like.

Graham O'Malley (Citizens Advice) and Meg van Rooyen (Money Advice Trust) join Antonio and Andy to share thoughts, memories and long-forgotten acronyms from the last 20 years in debt advice.

Useful links:

• IMA Virtual Conference, 13th & 14th October 2026
• Become a member of the IMA

We're back at the Greater Manchester Money Advice Group for the final part of our discussion with Tim Nelson (GMMAG), Cecilia Torsney (RB Greenwich) and The Chat.

This time, we discuss the pros and cons of the Standard Financial Statement as a tool for debt advisers, and how advisers can get the most out of the Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form.

(Apologies for the audio quality in some parts of the episode. The GMMAG session was recorded on Zoom, and some contributors had better connections than others).

Useful links:

• The Standard Financial Statement
• Debt and Mental Heath Evidence Form, v4
• Become a member of the IMA

The balance between driving economic growth through reduced regulation and securing consumer protection is a discussion we've frequently had on the podcast. So it was great to take our arguments to the biggest debt advice event of the year, and have them in front of a live audience, together with a panel of experts.

Recorded live at the IMA's annual conference at the Lowry Hotel, Manchester, on 4 June 2026, Antonio and Andy are joined by Megan Lloyd (Advice Knowledge team, Citizens Advice), Gareth McNab (Principal, Unsecured Consumer Credit at UK Finance) and John Wightman (Head of Consumer Finance Market Analysis, Policy and Strategy at the Financial Conduct Authority) to consider the important issues - consumer confidence, the role of the Ombudsman, access to justice and more.

(NB: For those patiently waiting, Part 3 of our episode recorded at GMMAG will be published very soon).

Useful links:

• FCA report into Retained Provisions of the Consumer Credit Act
• Resolution Foundation: Living Standards Outlook 2026
• Citizens Advice literature review on consumer protection and economic growth
• Become a member of the IMA

Antonio and Andy are back with the Greater Manchester Money Advice Group. Our panelists Cecilia Torsney (Royal Borough of Greenwich) and Tim Nelson (GMMAG) join a room full of debt advisers to talk about the most pressing issues affecting them and their clients.

In this episode, we consider the changing role of the debt adviser - have we lost our client-centred approach? Do we need to be more adversarial? And what can we do to reverse this direction of travel?

Useful links:

• IMA Conference - 4th June 2026, in Manchester
• Become a member of the IMA

What happens when the Internet's only debt advice podcast records an episode in front of a virtual room full of debt advisers? Thanks to our friends at Greater Manchester Money Advice Group, we found out. Antonio and Andy are joined by Cecilia Torsney of RB Greenwich and Tim Nelson of GMMAG to discuss a variety of debt advice-related topics, as suggested by GMMAG members.

In Part 1 of our discussion, we cover the perennially difficult issue of communications between debt advisers and creditors, with a diversion into the frustrating world of breathing space.

These episodes were recorded over Zoom rather than with our usual software, so apologies for any reduced audio quality.

Useful links:

• IMA Conference, 4 June 2026 in Manchester
• Become a member of the IMA

Happy New Year, listeners! With 2025 in the books, we look ahead (with customary optimism) to 2026 by discussing the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers (NAWRA)'s campaign to introduce a statutory duty for local authorities to ensure access to social welfare advice.

Daphne Hall, NAWRA Vice Chair, joins Antonio and Andy to explain why this is needed, what it might mean for local and national advice services, and how to stop for-profit commercial firms from hoovering up all the money earmarked for helping vulnerable people.

Useful links:

• NAWRA launches campaign for advice to be a statutory duty at the House of Commons
• Support NAWRA's campaign
• Become a member of the IMA

It's been a while since we last put out an episode - and lots has been happening in that time. Antonio and Andy run through a few topical items that have been going on since our last Debt Reckon, including the FCA's motor finance compensation scheme, a newsworthy intervention from the Enforcement Conduct Board and potential changes to the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Useful links:

• FCA motor finance redress scheme - press release
• 'Britain's largest bailiff firm forced into refunds scheme after overcharging.' The Guardian, 15th August
• ECB: Chief executive's report, October 2025
• HM Treasury: Review of the Financial Ombudsman Service and the IMA's response
• Become a member of the IMA

It's summertime, which means only one thing - the government will be undertaking some debt-related consultations. This year, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have obliged, with a fresh look at the administration and enforcement of council tax, an issue that is always close to the hearts of debt advisers.

In this episode, Antonio and Andy take a closer look at the government's proposals, alternately lamenting the missed opportunities and welcoming the chance to make meaningful change. There's also a bonus look at some council tax case law, revisiting our favourite legal phenomenon, the Freemen-on-the-Land.

Useful links:

• MHCLG consultation on council tax
• R (Peacekeepers Foundation) v Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates Court [2025] EWHC 1493 (Admin)
• Become a member of the IMA

Dealing with enforcement agents is part of every debt adviser's working life, and most advisers would agree that the sector is under-regulated and in need of reform. Since 2023, the Enforcement Conduct Board (ECB) has operated a voluntary scheme where it accredits and supervises participating enforcement agencies. So how effective has this regime been, and what developments should we expect in the future?

In this special episode of Debt Reckoning, recorded live at the Rep Theatre in Birmingham as part of the IMA's annual conference, Antonio and Andy are joined by three guests who have plenty to say on this issue: Carole Kenney, the director of welfare at CDER enforcement agents; David Parkin of the ECB; and Yvonne Fovargue CBE, former advice worker and MP for Makerfield, as well as the IMA's current patron.

With input from an audience of (mainly) frontline debt advisers, we discuss what changes the enforcement industry has already made to respond to regulation, what statutory powers the ECB might need in future, and the thorny issues of how bailiffs deal with consumer vulnerability and inability to pay.

Useful links:

• The Enforcement Conduct Board
• Ministry of Justice consultation into regulation of the enforcement sector
• Become a member of the IMA

The Financial Conduct Authority, who set the rules and guidance governing most forms of debt advice, have launched their new five-year strategy for 2025-30, explaining how they'll support economic growth and help consumers navigate their financial lives.

Aside from the inevitable promise of technological advances, and a doubling down on the view that Consumer Duty is the answer to everything, an early casualty of the FCA's new direction is the long-promised review into the debt advice rules contained in CONC 8.

So what does it all mean? Antonio and Andy take a look at the new strategy and consider how it might impact on debt advisers and the people they help.

(We apologise for the slightly suboptimal audio quality in the second half of this episode. Technology, it turns out, can sometimes let us down).

Useful links:

• The FCA strategy, 2025 to 2030
• IMA Conference - including Debt Reckoning Live - at the Rep Theatre, Birmingham, 12 June 2025
• Become a member of the IMA