Useful for anyone in debt advice
Short guides from our work with advice services, and plain definitions of the terms that come up every day.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026
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Evidencing the Consumer Duty in money advice
How to evidence "best interests" without pretending to score it, and what belongs in a board report.
The cost of silence
Why disengagement, not debt, is the cost that compounds across advice, housing and energy, and five moves for the C-suite.
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Terms, defined plainly
- Consumer Duty
- FCA rules (PRIN 2A, guidance FG22/5) requiring authorised firms to deliver good outcomes for retail customers across products, price and value, understanding and support, and to evidence those outcomes to their board.
- CONC 8
- The chapter of the FCA's Consumer Credit sourcebook that sets standards for debt advice, including that advice reflects the client's best interests and is based on a sufficiently full financial assessment.
- MaPS Standards Toolkit
- The Money and Pensions Service's standards for debt advice services, published February 2026, covering areas such as the financial statement (4g) and the written summary of advice (4m).
- Standard Financial Statement (SFS)
- The UK's common format for a person's income, spending and debts, accepted by most creditors so that one budget can support every repayment arrangement.
- Confirmation of Advice
- The written record of the advice given, the options considered and the actions agreed. CONC 8.3.2R sets what it must contain; MaPS Standard 4m asks for a concise, navigable summary.
- Durable medium (FCA PS25/13)
- Since January 2026, electronic communication is the default way to give required information, provided it is personal, storable and reproducible unchanged. Paper must still be offered free on request.
- Breathing Space
- The Debt Respite Scheme in England and Wales. It pauses most creditor action, interest and charges for 60 days while a person gets advice.
- Debt Relief Order (DRO)
- A form of insolvency for people with low income and few assets. One condition is surplus income under £75 a month after reasonable expenses.
- Open banking
- A regulated way for a person to share read-only bank data with a provider, with consent. Account information service providers are authorised by the FCA.
- FCA PS25/19
- FCA complaints reporting changes. From 1 January 2027 firms record complaints from customers identified as vulnerable, including failures to recognise or respond to vulnerability.
Common questions
How can a debt advice service evidence the Consumer Duty?
Combine three layers: observable steps recorded on every case, structured human quality review against a rubric, and outcome signals measured afterwards. No system can score a judgement, but it can prove the steps a good judgement needs were taken.
What should a confirmation of advice include?
The recommendation and why it suits the person, the options considered with their advantages, disadvantages, costs and risks, which debts are included, and the actions the person needs to take. A short actions summary should come first.