At least 62 debt management advice firms have lost their consumer credit licences in the past year following a review of the sector by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
Of the 129 firms which were warned last year, it is understood that 44 have now surrendered their licences and around 13 have been given revocation orders. The OFT said that all firms which have surrendered licences were either subject to enforcement action or would have been enforced against had they chosen not to surrender their licences.
It follows the conclusion of an OFT review last September, which prompted the regulator to warn 129 firms to better their standards of compliance or else face losing their consumer credit licences.
Since then the OFT has published a consultation on updated guidance for the debt management sector, and has also pledged to clamp down on “lead generators” which market the services of debt management firms.
Addendum
This is good news for those firms that believe in supporting their clients and promoting best practice.