Impossible choices briefing published

The Money Advice Trust published its Impossible choices cost of living briefing in September 2022, setting out calls on the Government and regulators to uprate benefits, support people in arrears and introduce a social tariff for energy¹.

The briefing sits within the charity's wider research programme, which it describes as work that "enhances understanding of the debt and credit environment and practically improves money advice"¹. The Trust says its research is carried out with academic institutions across the UK and is managed by its Insight team¹.

The briefing's recommendations cover three areas: uprating benefits, support for people in arrears, and a social tariff for energy¹. The Trust has separately reported that arrears levels reached a record breaking £4.4 billion in England alone¹.

The Trust has published other work on energy arrears. Its Help to Repay report, with findings from October 2023, was based on a UK wide poll of 2,000 adults and reported that an estimated 6.4 million (12%) UK adults were behind on their energy bills, up by 824,000 since April 2023, and that one in four people with energy debts were unable to repay¹. That report set out a proposal for a temporary Help to Repay scheme, providing eligible households with help to reduce what they owe through repayment matching and debt relief¹.

On council tax, the Trust's Lost in the system report, launched February 2026, found that half (49%) of adults in England had not heard of Local Council Tax Support, also called Council Tax Reduction, and that people receiving Universal Credit were five times more likely to have missed a council tax payment in the last 12 months¹. It also found that three quarters (74%) of people made liable for their annual bill said they fell behind on other household bills in order to make their payments to the council¹.

The Trust's Under Pressure report, published June 2023, reported that by April 2023, 3.7 million more people were behind on household bills compared with March 2022, and 5.5 million people (10% of UK adults) were behind on their energy bills, an increase of 2.1 million since March 2022¹.

The published text of the briefing page is truncated at that point, so the full wording of the Trust's own description of the briefing has not been reported¹.

Why it matters for households

The briefing concerns households in debt and those behind on essential bills. Its three asks, uprating benefits, support for people in arrears and a social tariff for energy, would affect the level of benefit income and the cost of energy for the households they cover, if adopted¹.

The Trust's separate findings give a picture of the scale involved. Energy arrears stood at an estimated 6.4 million UK adults as of the Help to Repay research, up 824,000 since April 2023¹. Council tax arrears have been described by the Trust as continuing to rise to record levels, with arrears reaching a record breaking £4.4 billion in England alone¹. Its Lost in the system findings indicate that awareness of Local Council Tax Support is low, with 49% of adults in England having not heard of it¹.

For households behind on energy or water bills, the practical questions are how arrears are repaid and what protection applies. The Trust's Help to Repay proposal would involve repayment matching and debt relief for eligible households¹. Its recommendations on council tax collection sit alongside its Stop the Knock campaign, under which it has recommended six steps for local authorities, after more than 2.7 million referrals to bailiffs for debts were issued by local authorities in England and Wales in 2022/23¹.

What happens next

The briefing was published in September 2022¹. No response from the Government or from regulators to the briefing's three recommendations has been reported in the material available¹.