Sunday 7th of February 2010
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has revealed that in 2009 it recommended individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) for 11,877 of its clients.
Such a figure marks a 148 per cent increase in the number of people advised to undertake an IVA. In 2008, 4,792 Britons were recommended to repay their unsecured debts through an IVA.
Although an IVA can leave a mark on a person’s credit file for around five years and is a serious route of action that should be fully researched, IVAs can prove to be the answer for many people in debt.
IVAs can help avoid the negative consequences that come with bankruptcy - such as potentially losing a home and being unable to stay in certain professions - as long as repayments are kept up with.
And IVAs should make repayments more manageable as they freeze the interest rates on unsecured debts. Interest repayments are often a bigger headache for Britons than the debt they took out in the first place.
Commenting on the figures, CCCS director of external affairs Delroy Corinaldi says: "Although there have recently been positive signs in the economy, our figures highlight the high numbers of people with unmanageable debt, for which insolvency is the most appropriate solution."
By Kim Parsons
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