Inflation Consumer Protection
Inflation Is Sending Employees to Lawyers. Bring This Data to Your Next Renewal.
LegalShield® data show money-related legal calls at their highest level since March 2020. Here is what that means for the employees your clients cover.
Billing disputes. Collection calls. Repossessions.
LegalShield’s Consumer Finance Index, which measures these matters as a share of calls to provider law firms, now stands above its Great Recession-era high. That is not a survey of how people feel. It is a record of what they are doing about it.
LegalShield’s Consumer Stress Legal Index tracks about 150,000 calls a month for legal help. In September 2026, its Consumer Finance Index reached 112.5. That is 6% above its July 2007 high, set in the run-up to the Great Recession.1
That subindex tracks calls about billing disputes, collections, repossessions, and negotiations with creditors. In other words, it measures the everyday consumer protection problems that end up on an employee’s kitchen table.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
The broader index has risen year over year for 27 straight months, a streak topped only by the 2006 to 2009 run. This time, though, no housing collapse or pandemic shutdown is driving it. The pressure comes from groceries, insurance premiums, and credit card interest that keep climbing.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts, and everyday expenses drive it,” said Ben Farrow, a LegalShield provider lawyer and partner at Anderson, Williams, & Farrow, LLC.
Federal court data show the same strain. Non-business bankruptcy filings rose 12% to 581,570 in the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.2 LegalShield’s own Bankruptcy Index has historically run about two quarters ahead of those court filings. It points to more increases into early 2027.
Where Money Stress Becomes a Legal Problem
Financial stress rarely stays a budgeting problem for long. It turns into contracts, collection letters, and deadlines. For most employees, it shows up in three places.
- Consumer finance disputes. Higher rates and complicated loan terms make it easy to agree to something an employee did not fully understand. Think of an auto loan with add-ons that no one explained, or a buy now, pay later charge that will not come off the account.
- Debt collection. Rising credit card balances and medical bills lead to more collection calls. Many employees do not know that federal law limits when and how a collector can contact them.
- Big financial paperwork. Refinancing, loan changes, and home purchases involve documents that can have consequences for years to come. Few people read every page. Fewer understand them.
A Question Worth Asking HR
Many employers already offer financial wellness tools. Budgeting apps and retirement calculators help people plan. They cannot answer a collection letter or review a loan before an employee signs it. Those are legal questions, and they need a lawyer.
For brokers heading into renewals, that makes a timely talking point. Clients are reading the same headlines about prices and debt. Few have seen data showing how those pressures turn into legal problems for the people on their payroll.
A voluntary legal plan fills that gap when an employee’s money problem becomes a legal one. At the next renewal, ask clients whether their financial-wellness strategy gives employees somewhere to turn in that moment.
Stats & Research Callout
112.5
LegalShield’s Consumer Finance Index reading for September 2026 - 6% above its July 2007 high.
Source: LegalShield Consumer Stress Legal Index, October 2026
581,570
Non-business bankruptcy filings during the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, a 12% year-over-year increase.
Source: Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Product Spotlight: LegalShield and Consumer Protection
LegalShield gives employees direct access to a provider law firm that can review loan and mortgage documents before they sign, respond to debt collectors on their behalf, and advise them on their consumer rights.
That access matters most early. LegalShield provider attorneys report that people are calling sooner, while their problems are still small and easier to fix. A quick call about a confusing loan term beats fighting a repossession notice months later.
Employees get a clear answer about their rights. They get a lawyer in their corner instead of drafting their own reply to a collector. And they get that advice without paying hourly rates. The same provider law firm can help with the refinance paperwork before signing and with the collection notice that shows up afterward.
For brokers, the fit is just as clear. Employers want benefits that address what employees are facing right now, and the Consumer Stress Legal Index shows exactly what that is. A legal plan gives clients a direct answer to financial stress, not just another budgeting tool.
No guessing at their rights. No facing the collector alone.
Talk to Your LegalShield Business Solutions Representative
Reach out to your LegalShield Business Solutions representative or email [email protected] to get updated proposals, enrollment materials, and talking points.