CSA supports Talk Money Week with video launch

The Credit Services Association (CSA), the voice of the debt collection and debt purchase sector, has launched a new video to promote Five Steps that people can take if they’ve fallen into debt.

Building on its previous #heretohelp campaign, the video explains the importance of engaging with those a customer owes money to and urges them to be as open and honest as they can in discussing their situation. Once a debt has been passed to a CSA member, again the message is one of communication and engagement, and the importance of not ignoring the attempts of contact. Debt collection agency staff speak to thousands of people in debt every day, and the video explains how it’s their role to find a realistic and affordable way for people to get out of debt.

Voiced by Brad Burton, a motivational speaker, who was himself once £25,000 in debt, the animated video is designed to give people the confidence to engage with a debt collection company from the outset. It also stresses the help that these companies can provide in steering customers to further help and advice if they need it.

Chris Leslie, CSA Chief Executive, says that talking more openly about money is the first step to removing the stigma of debt and dealing with it “Debt is one of those topics that can often be ‘off-limits’, and it can be hard to talk about. But we want to reassure people that debt collection agencies – our members – are there to help them along the road to becoming debt free. They have a genuine desire to help their customer, and it is their job to find an affordable and realistic way of freeing people of their debt.”

“We also know that, according to Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), despite the Covid-19 crisis affecting our finances, 9 in 10 UK adults – 47 million people – don’t find it any easier to talk about money, or don’t even discuss it at all. So we hope our new video, and all the awareness-raising efforts for Talk Money Week will help to get people talking more about money and debt.”

The launch of the new video coincides with Talk Money Week, an annual awareness campaign run by the Money and Pensions Service to encourage everyone to open up about their money and pensions.

The impact of Covid-19 has made it more important than ever for people to start conversations about money to look after their financial wellbeing. Prior to Covid-19, according to MaPS, around nine million people in the UK were over-indebted.