Mortgage News
Government advice service targets 88,000 customers
The Money Advice Service (MAS) has set itself a target of reaching 88,000 individuals through face-to-face advice this year as part of a “transformed” offering.
The government and industry-funded organisation today published its business plan for 2012/13.
It said it aims to reach 1.9m throughout the year, including 90,000 through its contact call centre, and has estimated a total of 19m people could benefit from its services.
It hopes it will reach 11m people annually from 2016 and will also look to engage and work with young people.
It is part of a new offering which will see “new and rewritten” advice available from the summer and a number of new tools, including a ‘baby cost calculator’, it said.
This will be communicated via “co-ordinated and sustained” marketing activity.
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It also said its new mission statement was: “Free, unbiased, tailored and easy to access money tools, information and advice enabling you to take action, develop good money habits and make more of your money. For today, tomorrow and the unexpected.”
The MAS this week began co-ordinating debt advice, following the announcement of the expansion of its services last month.
It said it would receive £34.5m worth of funding from the financial services industry for this element of its service, mainly from home finance providers. This figure was initially £40.5m before a VAT ruling saw it reduced.