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Affordability Summit: UK

A great day in Manchester talking about affordability, assessment of ablity to pay and income maximisation in the UK. Some common themes; troubling changes around worsening affordability, the building of trust across the credit lifecycle and some ideas to really help.Some notes from the session to follow below, plus the music video supporting the event.w/ thanks to Paylink, Arum Global, Mega.AI, IE Hub, Hope Macy, Inicio.AI, Policy in Practice, Welfare Together and Finvence for sponsoring the event. The Affordabilty Summit… Read more

KEY THEMES+ ¦ DEMSA Summary

What you need to know this week The two-child benefit cap has been scrapped, with around 480,000 families with three or more children set to receive an average rise of £4,100 a year, while 2.7m people are also due a pay rise through minimum wage increases.Energy affordability remains under acute pressure, with Ofgem reporting £3.17 billion in domestic credit balances for fixed direct debit customers and total domestic customer debt and arrears of £4.55 billion.Average energy debt continues to rise,… Read more

DEMSA Column: Consumer Understanding Framework / Agentic AI / Energy / Vulnerability / Collaborations & Appointment / Events

In today’s bulletin: • General update• Collaborations• FCA Consumer Understanding Framework• The future of consumer centric ‘Agentic AI’• Save the date – AI adoption – 25 June 2026 – BSI offices – Milton Keynes• Collaborations & Appointments• Events General Update The two-child benefit cap has now been scrapped, meaning some 480,000 families with three or more children will get an average rise of £4,100 a year. Around 2.7m people are set to receive a pay rise this week as the… Read more

KEY THEMES+ ¦ DEMSA Summary

What you need to know this week FCA-approved MaPS Standards and supporting toolkits take effect on 1 April 2026, with new SFS figures also taking effect shortly after.Community Money Advice and Christians Against Poverty will come together under a newly formed CAP Group, creating a larger specialist community-based debt advice network across the UK.Ofgem states that households on standard variable tariffs remain protected by the energy price cap until the end of June 2026 despite Middle East-related pressure on wholesale… Read more

DEMSA Column: FCA updates / Operational Resilience / Vulnerability / Insolvency / Data & AI governance / Collaborations / Events

In today’s bulletin: General updateApril is nearly upon up and the changes that come with the new tax yearJoint FCA and ICO statement around consumer vulnerabilityFCA Annual Work Programme 2026/27Data & AI governanceIndividual insolvencies by location, age and gender 2025FCA sets out plans for using AI to speed up authorisationsOperational resilience – FCA feedback one year onNon-Financial Misconduct (NFM) – Ready for September 2026?CollaborationsEvents General Update The updated FCA-approved MaPS Standards and supporting toolkits will come into effect next Wednesday… Read more

KEY THEMES+ ¦ DEMSA Summary

What you need to know this week The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% unanimously, while signalling readiness to act if inflationary pressures persist.Labour market pressure remains evident, with pay growth slowing to 3.8% and unemployment holding at 5.2%.Gambling-related debt pressures have intensified, with more than 21,000 people seeking support in January 2026 and disclosed debt exceeding £7.2m in 2025.National debt advice demand has accelerated, with National Debtline recording its busiest ever start to a year in January… Read more