These companies used phrases like ‘Government debt consolidation’ or ‘Government debt advice’ to fool people into using their services. In reality these companies charged a fee to provide debt management services that are available free from charities like us.
This was very misleading, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took action against some companies to stop this type of advertising. The FCA who regulate the debt advice sector has continued to bring these types of companies to account.
Hopefully this means you won’t see any more fee-charging companies advertising debt consolidation in this way.