Online seminar series: Good practices in debt advice
About one in twelve European households is having difficulties meeting their payment commitments, whether these relate to secured or unsecured borrowing, to payment of rent, or to utility or other household bills. Debt advisors play a crucial role in giving professional advice and finding the best solutions to help households get out of debt. Currently, there are only a fraction of the necessary qualified independent debt advisors available to support all the households in need.
In January 2021, a series of three online seminars will be organised to exchange good practices in debt advice. These seminars, aimed at debt advisors, policy makers and other stakeholders concerned with household over-indebtedness, will showcase concrete, proven and replicable examples that will further the development of debt advisors as well as debt advice in general across the EU.
The online seminar series forms part of the project on “Provision of actions to extend the availability and improve the quality of debt-advice services for European households” (Specific Contract No. 20198601). This project was commissioned by European Commission Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency and carried out by VVA and CEPS
GOOD PRACTICES IN DEBT ADVICE
- Profiling and predicting over-indebtedness: Mário Boto Ferreira, Universidade de Lisboa
- Professional development of financial literacy: Monika Tröster, DIE
- Set-up a cost-effective debt advice organisation: Hana Košan, Kralji Ulice
- Utilities based detection: Sara Waelbers, Steunpunt Mens en Samenleving
- Ethics code for debt advice: Sandy Madar, The Social Legal Aid
- Covenants with creditors: Irene Koole and Linda van Vliet, NVVK
- Living wage calculation institutes and tools: Arjan Vliegenthart, NIBUD
- Financial-transactions-based detection: Benoît Ehret, Banque de France
- Design and implement debt advice interventions: Tamara Madern, Hogeschool Utrecht
The seminar series will be opened by Commissioner Didier Reynders and concluded by Nils Behrndt, Director for Consumers at DG Just.
