At the time, executive officer Andrew Henderson said there was "a whole lot of fear and uncertainty" among the service’s clients.
That uncertainty remained for many people, as Kiwis rode out the "emotional roller-coaster" of the past two years.
"What we have found is that beneficiaries have seemed to manage quite well, with middle income people being the most impacted," he said.
"There are a lot of people out there with not much in the way of savings for emergencies — which of course is not easy to do.
"Many people are also heavily leveraged with debt, which can be disastrous if their hours are reduced or they are made redundant," Mr Henderson said.
Mr Henderson said under the traffic light Red setting, staff were working from home, talking to clients by phone, text and email.
"While it doesn’t suit everyone, we have found that for some clients it is less confronting to talk about their financial situation on the phone than it would be face to face," he said.
Mr Henderson said the amendments to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Financial Act, which had tightened lending criteria, was protecting a lot of New Zealanders.
"Often when people get into trouble, instead of asking for help, they try to borrow money.
"Now we are finding more people are asking for help, rather than going to high cost lenders, and that is a positive."
The increase in the minimum wage to $21.20 on April 1 would also be a help to low income earners, he said.
