More than 8.4 million people contacted the servicem, which contributed to the body shelling out £81.4m and receiving £80.6m, resulting in a shortfall of £800,000
The MAS confirmed that it will not return any cash to the levy payers. The year before when the MAS had a £805,000 surplus the funds were taken off the amount levied on the adviser industry in the 2014/15 financial year.
Caroline Rookes, chief executive of the MAS, said: “More of our customers are taking action after they have contacted the Service so that we can say we are truly starting to make a difference to the nation’s financial behaviour and helping people make better decisions.
“We have also increased the number and range of partners we work with to ensure even more people can get the help they need.
“Research consistently demonstrates that high-quality debt advice is effective in getting people to take action to manage and reduce their debts. We want to make sure that more and more people who need debt advice services are using them.”
The MAS’s directory currently has 5,500 regulated financial advisers from over 3,000 firms on its books where consumers can be directed for full advice.
