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Check my options

Where can you get debt advice?

“Debt advice” is a regulated activity, a free public service, a commercial industry and a marketing phrase — sometimes all in one search result. Here is how to tell which you are looking at.

Written by The My Debt Cleared editorial teamLast reviewed 30 August 2026Jurisdiction United KingdomEditorial policy
Debt advice — recommending which solution fits your situation — is FCA-regulated debt counselling. It is available free from the debt charities and from free-to-use services such as PayPlan; it is also sold by commercial debt firms, whose advice must be authorised but whose income depends on the solutions they arrange. My Debt Cleared is neither: we are an information and introduction service that does not give advice. If a website calls itself a “debt adviser”, check the FCA register; if it promises a percentage written off before assessing you, it is marketing.

Regulated advice

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act, advising on debt solutions is a regulated activity. Anyone doing it must be FCA-authorised or exempt, must assess your full circumstances, and must recommend only what is suitable. The FCA register is public and searchable — an adviser who cannot show a firm reference number is not one.

Free advice

StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice, PayPlan, Community Money Advice, CAP and the Scottish and Northern Irish services all give regulated advice free. Who does what sets out their differences. Free does not mean lesser: the charities’ advisers are as qualified as anyone’s and have no fee to earn from the outcome.

Commercial providers

Commercial debt firms and insolvency practitioners also advise, lawfully, and some are excellent. Their income comes from the solutions they arrange — IVA fees, DMP fees — which is not disqualifying but is worth holding in mind when the recommendation arrives. Since 2023, firms cannot pay referral fees to lead generators for debt-packager introductions, which removed the worst incentives from the market.

My Debt Cleared’s role

We explain, compare and organise; we do not advise. When our Check My Options journey introduces you to an authorised firm, that firm’s name and FCA reference are shown before you agree to anything, and their advice — not ours — is what you receive. Use us to arrive prepared: what the solutions are, which debts come first, what your budget says.

Check my options — about 60 seconds