What we do

We help people find a way forward

We can all face problems that seem complicated or intimidating. At Citizens Advice we believe no one should have to face these problems without good quality, independent advice.

That’s why we’re here: to give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

We give advice to millions of people

Our network of independent charities offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. When we say we’re for everyone, we mean it. People rely on us because we’re independent and totally impartial.

We also give advice on consumer rights on our consumer helpline, support witnesses in courts through the Witness Service and give pension guidance to people aged over 50.

We help millions of people every year. In 2022-23, this included:

  • 42.7 million visits to our website 

  • 457,000 people helped face to face (more than double the previous year) 

  • 1.8 million people using our phone service 

  • 895,000 helped by email or webchat 

  • 79,000 witnesses supported through the Witness Service 

In total we helped over 2.66 million people find a way forward with one-to-one advice. Our advice website had over 60 million views of our online self-help advice.

We provide support in approximately 1,600 locations across England and Wales with 16,000 volunteers and 8,843 staff.

We speak up for our clients

No one else sees so many people with so many different kinds of problems, and that gives us a unique insight into the challenges people are facing today.

With the right evidence, we can show big organisations – from companies right up to the government – how they can make things better for people.

We see how problems can be linked. By helping people with the underlying cause of their problems and making sure they don’t get worse, we save the government and public services hundreds of millions of pounds every year.

We also look out for people as the statutory consumer watchdog for the energy and post industries. We show where things are going wrong and how to help make it better for people.

We make a difference

84% of people using our local services would recommend us to a friend.

Our service saves society money. In 2022-23 the advice we delivered directly saved government and public services at least £681 million. For every £1 spent on the service, we benefit our clients by £13. We estimate our value to society at £4.7 billion.

You can read more about the impact of the Citizens Advice service in our 2022-2023 impact report.   1.83 MB

Watch our videos to find out more about who we are, what we do and how we help people.