The paper describes the nature and characteristics of debt advice, a set of activities aimed at providing personalized and transversal assistance (legal, technical, social and psychological) in favour of consumers in financial difficulties. In the European debate, debt advice has been identified as an effective tool for dealing with the phenomenon of over-indebtedness. These services are well developed in some Member States but still absent or not widespread in others, including Italy.
The paper illustrates the activities included in a debt advice service, the entities that can provide it and the possible sources of financing; the current debate and some of the best practices in Europe; the differences between debt advice and the main types of advice to debtors that already exist in the Italian framework; and the still limited experiences and some possible perspectives for Italy.
