The Debt management industry is facing new regulation expected to come from the Ministry of the Justice. The usual financial watchdog of the UK government the Financial Services Authority is occupied examining the results of the credit crunch and investigating the banking sector in greater detail, so many industry experts now believe the ministry of justice will be positioned to regulate the Debt Industry for the near future.

The numbers of operating debt management companies have increased greatly over the last 18 months, with numbers increasing from 1000 companies to over 3000 presently estimated. Some companies have chosen to go through self regulation; the majority are unregulated unlike insolvency practitioners who are strongly regulated in their processing of IVA’s.

The main self regulation body of the debt industry is the DRF(Debt Resolution Forum) this comprises of over 25 of the leading companies. The DRF has taken steps to allow the debt industry to self regulate, before legally required to by the ministry of Justice.

The Debt Resolution Forum is committed to industry wide professional standards which is a goal all its members are fully committed to. The DRF believe any debt resolution provided must meet the best interests of the debtor, should take into consideration the needs of the creditors and it should be obvious that it is in the best interest of all parties involved.

Members of the Debt Resolution Forum have taken many measures to improve the professional standards which can be provided to customers. Debt Release Direct who are a leading members of the DRF has taken the unique step of making the commitment that all its advisors will be qualified with the Certificate of Debt Resolution in the next 12 months. The DRF describes the Certficate of Debt Resolution as ” tangible evidence of DRF’s commitment to professional standards”. Debt Release Direct will be the only debt management company to commit to achieve this professional standard.

It still in unknown if the ministry of justice will take the self regulation of the DRF into consideration, or will they seek to regulate the debt management industry in an alternative way. Many industry professionals believe this is the most likely outcome, but only the passage of time will tell.