Financial Inclusion Strategy: Building on a Solid Foundation

The Government’s new Financial Inclusion Strategy, published today, sets out an ambitious vision: “that people in problem debt get fair treatment from creditors and the right support to get back on track with their finances.”

That is an aim we wholeheartedly share at Registry Trust. It’s great to see the publication of this strategy and the recognition that improving financial inclusion requires collaboration between government, regulators, industry, civil society and organisations like ours. There’s a lot here that can help shift the dial - from expanding debt advice and improving access to affordable credit, to addressing coerced debt and embedding financial education. Access to good data will be critical for targeting interventions where they are needed most.

We were particularly pleased to see Registry Trust referenced directly in the strategy:

“Court processes beyond insolvency also provide important signals about problem debt. County Court Judgments (CCJs), recorded and analysed by the Registry Trust, highlight where debt has escalated into the courts and offer further insight into patterns of financial distress.”

This recognition matters. Our data provides a unique, long-term view of financial resilience - identifying where debt pressures are increasing and where interventions can make the biggest difference.

While our specific policy asks - including mandatory reporting of satisfactions and the creation of a partial settlements register - weren’t included this time, we believe both would strengthen the Strategy’s aim of giving lenders more nuanced information and helping people recover and rebuild after debt.

There are many areas outlined in the Strategy where we can contribute:

• Data and insight to support initiatives like the Money Guiders Programme, helping people better understand CCJs, satisfactions and how to resolve judgments.
• Exploring how coerced debt leading to CCJs could be addressed - ensuring victims aren’t penalised with a CCJ in the public Register for debts they never consented to.
• Sharing insight with credit reference agencies and lenders as they work to build a fuller, fairer view of people’s financial circumstances.
• Using claimant data when that comes on stream next year to help identify trends - such as energy company CCJs - and where early intervention could prevent enforcement action for people with energy debt.

Financial education, including the new primary school citizenship curriculum, is a focus of the new Strategy. Improving understanding of credit, debt and monetary judgments will be crucial to enhance financial capability and we’d love to help shape that conversation.

There’s a lot to build on here. The Strategy gives us a framework, but delivering genuine financial inclusion will take shared data, open dialogue and practical action. We look forward to being part of that work and to hearing from others who’d like to collaborate.

👉 Explore our latest monetary judgment data here or get in touch to find out more about how our insights can inform and support financial inclusion initiatives.