ABCUL has welcomed the publication of the report Debt (mis)management by Citizens Advice Scotland which highlights the poor practices of a number of private debt management companies. ABCUL's Policy and Relations Manager in Scotland, Frank McKillop, said: "When more and more people are struggling to pay their debts, the last thing they need are debt management companies taking advantage of them and giving them advice which can often make their position even worse.

"For some time, credit unions across Scotland have been reporting cases of their members being ripped off by unscrupulous debt management firms or poorly advised about the best route out of debt, not to mention Trust Deeds where the creditor receives a pittance after the trustee has collected their fee. So we're very pleased to see this new report from Citizens Advice Scotland which gathers the evidence to back up what we've been hearing."

Credit unions are locally owned financial co-operatives which operate solely in the interests of their members and not for any investors or external shareholders. Credit unions lend to members at ethical rates of interest from the savings of their fellow members, so it is important that borrowers keep up payments on their loans. The knock-on effect of poor debt advice is therefore of great concern to credit unions.

Frank McKillop added: "As ethical lenders, credit unions have a long...Read more on this story----> CCR Magazine - Credit unions welcome new report on poor practices of private debt companies