Profits soar at UK firm set up to help government chase unpaid debts | Borrowing & debt

A company created to help the government chase unpaid fines, loans and council tax saw its profits rocket by 132% last year.

Integrated Debt Services (IDS), which trades as Indesser and whose parent company is the credit information firm Equifax, saw its pre-tax profits rise to £18.1m in 2022, sharply up on 2021’s figure of £7.8m. Revenues nearly doubled to £60m.

The pandemic had caused IDS, which acts as a middleman between the government and debt collection agencies, to pause some of its operations, the accounts said, but there was an “acceleration of activity” in 2022.

The company paid a dividend of £12m to the Nottingham-based debt collection firm TDX Group, which is ultimately owned by Equifax, whose headquarters are in the US.

IDS was created in 2014, the idea of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. Its first six customers were HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Home Office, the Student Loans Company, the Legal Aid Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

Its significant increase in profits come at a time of heightened scrutiny for debt collection activities in the UK as the the cost of living bites.

Debt collection companies were encouraged by the government and regulators to exercise extra forbearance – patience in collecting unpaid debt – during the Covid pandemic. Many agencies were also unable to use some of their traditional in-person routes to collecting money or goods in lieu of cash.

The swing back to previous practices at some companies has come amid a heavy squeeze on household incomes, as wages have failed to keep pace with rising costs for essential goods and services.

Citizens Advice, a charity with services including advice on managing debt, revealed in spring this year that its research had found nearly half a million people expected to go into debt. About 600,000 people also predicted they would have to add to their existing debt piles.

It launched a campaign in March aimed at encouraging people who might struggle to meet debt repayments to seek advice as soon as possible.

Equifax did not respond to a question on whether financial struggles caused by a drop in real household incomes had boosted its bottom line.

A spokesperson said: “In 2020 and 2021, government departments asked Indesser to pause outbound collections activity during the pandemic, and the government halted new debt placement with the business.

“In 2022, once the peak of the pandemic had passed, the government placed more debt with Indesser as it sought to collect outstanding debts, while continuing to protect those who are at higher risk from financial vulnerability. Indesser delivered this work successfully for the government and as a result the business grew.”

The spokesperson added that the company had not seen any “significant changes” arising from the cost of living crisis but that Equifax was working with government to ensure there were options for people who needed forbearance, and that it only used collection agencies regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.