DebtAware is the name of the financial education and information work of Debt Advice Foundation, a specialist debt charity.
Debt Advice Foundation is a national debt advice and education registered charity. We operate a free, independent telephone helpline, 0800 043 40 50, which is open from 8am-8pm weekdays and until 5pm Saturdays. We help around 10,000 people a year with debts in excess of £54m via our helpline, and some 11,000 a year via our website and online tools.
We are one of just three national telephone debt advice services listed by the Money Advice Service; the only three to have achieved Advice Quality Standard (AQS) as independent organisations offering free, confidential advice to people with debt problems.
We are also listed by Government departments, local authorities and leading charities.
The Debt Advice Foundation website includes self-help tools and practical guides on how to manage money effectively, budget and negotiate directly with creditors. There are also include links to important specialist charities and information sites.
The charity is a member of AdviceUK and all of the charity’s advisers are either full or associate members of the Institute of Money Advisers. We are registered supporters of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Debt and Personal Finance and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People.
Debt Advice Foundation’s mission statement
At the heart of the charity’s philosophy is the prevention and cure of unmanageable consumer debt.
While our primary focus is on helping those that are in need of advice and support today, we strongly believe that engaging with the next generation of credit users to foster a more responsible attitude to borrowing and saving is key to tackling the burgeoning levels of UK personal debt.
Debt Advice Foundation’s formal aims
The prevention or relief of poverty for the public benefit and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, this may include:
- the provision of free, impartial and appropriate debt advice to people with unaffordable debt
- to help people with debt problems to gain access to appropriate solutions that will help them
- to promote education, for the public benefit, in financial capability and money management so as to reduce the likelihood of debt misuse
- to undertake or fund research to understand why problem debt happens and its effect on individuals, families and the wider United Kingdom economy and to disseminate useful results.