Money Wellness launches to provide free debt advice and ongoing support service

Money Wellness has been launched to provide free debt advice and ongoing support following two new contract appointments by Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).

The Money Wellness brand is powered by Gregory Pennington, which has already helped more than 700,000 customers improve their financial wellbeing over the past 30 years. The new contracts will enable Money Wellness to deliver free debt advice and debt relief orders (DROs) nationally and follows MaPS’ commitment to invest £76m of funding into the sector.

Figures from MaPS last summer suggested that 18% of the UK population, around 9.3 million people, needed debt advice.

Commenting on this, Ian Somerset, CEO of Money Wellness, said: “We are proud to have been awarded the important responsibility of providing much needed capacity for free debt advice and DRO administrations.

“We understand these are difficult times for households and the increasing cost of living is impacting many of them. At the same time, debt and personal finance has become much more complex and it is therefore more important than ever before for people to have access to free, impartial debt advice. We remain passionate about finding the right solution for each individual and providing ongoing support so that they can see a way forward.”

Caroline Siarkiewicz, chief executive of the Money and Pensions Service, said: “Debt advice can be life-changing, so we’re delighted to be working with Gregory Pennington to reach even more people who need help. When someone gets the support and advice they need, they can see all of their options, make informed decisions and take control of their finances, moving on from the distress that problem debt can cause.

“More and more people are expected to need debt advice over the next few years, so partnerships like this will be vital as we help them find their way forward.”