Last week, the Office of Fair Trading announced that it will be carrying out a mass review into the debt management industry. It will be the first review since 2003, which in itself is pretty shocking in my opinion. And of course, since 2003 much has changed. There are now a number of online only companies, huge numbers of brokers have sprung up and so too has the number of complaints from consumers. And this is what has initiated this review.
So, in essence, the way it will work is that OFT will send out questionnaires to all the debt management companies. On top of this, consumers can have their say online and debt charities will be asked to give their opinion on how they believe debt management companies are complying with the minimum standards set.
All this seems to point to the fact that the debt management could soon be regulated in much the same way as the loans or mortgages sector is. The Ministry of Justice is debating that currently actually.
It would probably benefit consumers no end, in my opinion, for the debt management industry to come under regulation. It would put an end to the rogue traders in this sector.
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