It’s Debt Awareness Week, and we’re partnering with Lowell to challenge the stigma around debt and and help young people build healthy money habits. We’re aiming to equip young people with the tools and confidence to talk about money and navigate debt – including understanding how to engage with debt collection companies.
So let’s talk about debt.
Together with Lowell, we have developed a series of downloadable resources to support young people’s understanding of dealing with debt, including:
- Priority Bills Guide – what they are and how to deal with them.
- Debt Jargon ‘Buster’ – demystifying commonly used terms like APR, fixed vs. variable rates and credit scores.
- Call Preparation Checklist – to help callers feel prepared when speaking to an adviser about their debt.
We’ve also created two live call examples – short videos talking young people through a typical call with Lowell. Watch our expert MyBnk trainers break down a call between a Lowell customer and their advisor. Through these videos, we aim to provide a transparent look at the supportive process of debt management and make debt-related jargon more accessible and easier to understand.
We believe that debt can happen to anyone, and asking for help is a sign of strength.
Speaking on the topic, John Pears, UK CEO at Lowell, said:
“Engaging with your debt is the most important step, but for many people, it’s also the most difficult. In this country, talking about money – especially debt – still carries a huge stigma. We want to change that, starting with young people. If we can help them build the skills and confidence to have honest conversations about money now, we can help prevent problem debt later in life. This isn’t just about Debt Awareness Week. As an industry, we have a responsibility to make debt feel less frightening and more manageable.”
MyBnk added:
“Education around finances, saving, and debt is crucial to make sure people have the tools they need to form a healthy relationship with money. We need to stop stigmatising debt, and money in general, and start talking about how to prevent and overcome it. Understanding how money works is empowering, and this begins with education and open conversations.”
Lowell is committed to tackling the barriers preventing people from achieving better financial health. Drawing on the conversations they have with their 8.5 million UK customers, Lowell are campaigning for key policy reforms that they believe will have a massive impact on people individually, but also support the Government in addressing the long and stubborn tail of financial vulnerability in the UK. To access the full set of resources or for more information, check out Lowell’s Fairer Debt for a Fairer Society campaign.
