50% of this figure declared bankrupt, however, 50% managed to to avoid this by signing onto an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or a Debt Relief Order. The overall amount increased by 26% on last years figures to a record high.

IVA’s are a way to avoid bankruptcy and clear your debt in a more controlled way with less impact on your credit rating. The Debt People are IVA advice specialists and have help many people arrange an IVA every year.

Corporate and Business Insolvency

The number of companies liquidated has fallen in the last three months of 2009 to 4,566. This is a fall of 1.7 per cent against the previous quarter and down 1.1 per cent year on year.

This shows that the country has signs of a recovery beginning, however, there are a large number of businesses who may have been saved by HM Revenue & Customs‚Äö√Ñ√¥s “time to pay” scheme, which has enabled struggling companies to defer more than ¬¨¬£4 billion of PAYE tax and national insurance liabilities.

IVA numbers rise as personal insolvencies hit record levels is a post from: The Debt People

The global credit crunch may have convinced us to stop spending for a while, however this trend may be starting to reverse.

According to figures released by Unbiased.co.uk, for every £1 that is being saved in the UK, 26p is borrowed. This is in sharp contrast to the second half of last year, when for every £1 saved, £1.61 of debt was actually repaid.

It would seem that more households are using credit to fund their lifestyle, and this will inevitably lead to more people getting themselves in over their heads. Whenever there is a jump in borrowing, there soon follows an increase in the number of people applying for debt management assistance and IVA advice.

In the period from April through to June this year, UK consumers borrowed £5.5 billion. This is almost twice as much as was borrowed in the first three months of the year. IVA help specialists are gearing up for the demand that will surely follow this increase in borrowing.

An IVA can offer a lifeline to over-indebted people, by helping to reduce monthly outgoings, and making debts more affordable. Only unsecured debts can be included on an IVA, such as personal loans, store cards and credit card debt for example.

IVA help needed as debt problems on increase is a post from: The Debt People

Over the last decade, the UK has enjoyed something of a boom. The value of property has increased at record levels, creating enormous pots of wealth for many people, in exchange for no work whatsoever. The word used to describe this new wealth is “equity”, and many people have made the twin mistakes of believing that it will continue to forever increase and that it will last forever.

Neither of these things has turned out to be true. Since the global credit crunch, the value of houses has collapsed, and in a few short months the equity has all but disappeared.

Another investment medium that we all thought was as safe as houses was the stock market, which like property has been on an upward march for the last decade. The collapse of the banks, along with numerous other financial institutions, soon put paid to that, and now many investors have literally lost their shirts.

The net result of all of this is that people are a lot worse off than they were, and raising finance has become a lot more difficult than it was. This has had a knock-on effect in the debt management industry, where previously debt consolidation loans were the first port of call for the overcommitted. Now that this option has vanished, the hard up consumer is left with a Debt Management Plan, or an IVA for higher debt levels.

IVA advice can make the difference between total financial collapse leading to bankruptcy, and finding ones way through the nightmare of debt and emerging still in one piece. Typically an IVA will allow debts to be gathered together into a single, affordable payment and cleared over a set period; usually five years. It is recommended that professional advice is sought before any decisions are made and all IVAs must be nominated and supervised by a qualified Insolvency Practitioner.

IVA help needed as investments fall is a post from: The Debt People

A substantial amount of money is at stake, with the UK banks currently earning more than £2 billion a year from charges and fees levied against their customers accounts.

The news of a delay in the final decision has caused concern amongst IVA advice specialists and debt management providers, who are worried that more consumers could be forced into insolvency as they await the outcome. Many thousands of people have fallen into financial difficulty since the start of the recession and in some cases, bank fees and charges make up a large part of their debt. If it transpires that these fees do not need to be repaid, then it could help indebted consumers avoid insolvency.

The battle between the OFT and the banks has been raging for two years, and around a million refund claims, from bank customers, have been kept in limbo. Some people are worried that the Law Lords decision could still not bring the matter to an end. The matter, or at least some of the issues, could be referred on to the European Court of Justice.

The Lords presided over a 3 day hearing in the House of Lords, where they heard arguments from barristers representing the banks and the OFT. The banks were represented by Jonathan Sumption QC, who squared up against Jonathan Crow QC for the OFT.

The banks argument was that the OFT did not have the power to scrutinise bank charges, regardless of whether they thought that they were fair or not. The OFT countered, saying that they were not only worried about the size of fees, but also the way in which they were charged.

If the decision goes in favour of the OFT, then this could spell major problems for the banks, which could involve having to reduce the fees that they charge in the future. They may also be required to refund bank unfair charges to their customers and with a million eager claimants waiting in the wings, the bill could be astronomical.

Once the matter has been resolved, or if the matter is ever resolved, TCF regulation of the banks will be in the hands of the Financial Services Authority. The FSA will take over formal regulation of the way in which customers are treated by the banks, sometime in November this year.

Refund delay could leave more needing IVA help is a post from: The Debt People