The charity reviewed more than 1,700 clients to find out how they got into debt. Of the 280 centres, 26% said their problems began with issues with welfare payments.
Laura Roberts, from Christians Against Poverty, told Premier: "It's not always the first thing that occurs to us, to update the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) with information.
"I hear myself on the phone to people who say 'I had a baby and I hadn't updated them with the details and then later I got this bill through', so I think sometimes people are just thrown by other stresses in their life."
She added that seeking advice as soon as a problem occurs is the best course of action. She said: "There is help out there, there is no judgement from any of the debt advice services.
"There is no judgement on how anyone gets into financial difficulty; it can happen to any of us. It's [debt advice] to urge people not to ignore the problem but to tackle it head on."
Listen to Laura Robert's speaking to Premier's Hannah Tooley:
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In response a DWP Spokesperson said: "Over £ 70 billion a year is spent in the benefit system supporting people on low incomes, and people can get advice on their benefit payments through their Jobcentre Plus. Universal Credit will respond to changes in income in real time, ensuring even greater accuracy with benefit payments."
