We welcome the proposed approach set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that would see a standard baseline set of payment freeze and other help across the consumer credit sector take effect next week for people whose finances have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus crisis.
Peter Tutton, Head of Policy here at StepChange Debt Charity, says:
“We have already seen a number of firms introducing temporary payment holidays and forbearance, but to know that as a bare minimum people would effectively have a three-month freeze period would provide enormous peace of mind to many. This approach would also help debt advice organisations by introducing a welcome and clear expectation level of minimum standards of help people can rely upon, reducing the need for constant checking on what individual creditors might be offering as a stopgap emergency measure .”