In 2021, the Money and Pensions Service ('MaPS') changed the way it estimated the number of people in need of debt advice. Undertaking secondary analysis of the MaPS 'Debt Need Survey' for 2023 we find its approach to be overly restrictive, excluding 5 million people who clearly have a need for advice. The MaPS approach is so restrictive that it even excludes a third of people who are receiving debt advice from its definition of needing this.