Was 2014 a record year for IVAs?
Back in October 2014 ClearDebt predicted it would be a record year for IVAs.
There had already been more than 40,000 Individual Voluntary Arrangements in the first nine months of the year and here at ClearDebt we were pretty confident the total for the year would top 50,000.
Well, on Thursday the Insolvency Service will issue its statistics for the whole of 2014 and we’ll find out. Our estimate is that there will have been 53,649 (non-seasonally adjusted) IVAs in the whole of 2014.
What is your prediction for how many IVAs there were in 2014?
Leave your estimate in the survey below (and your email address) and the nearest estimate will win £100 towards your nominated charity.
[polldaddy type=”iframe” survey=”55DCF01A1B72FC5A” height=”auto” domain=”cleardebt” id=”what-s-your-iva-estimate-for-2014″]IVA predictions
More seriously, our prediction for 2015 is that IVAs will stay at this level (or decline slightly) whilst Debt Relief Orders (DROs) march ever upward, mirroring the continuing fall in bankruptcies. And that’s even before the new DRO thresholds come in in October this year – that will see the two procedures diverge even further.
Notes on the data: Statistics in this article are taken from the Insolvency Statistics up to Q3 2014.
Realistically though, who can tell what the year will bring – especially when there is a general election in it. Whichever party(ies) form(s) the next government we doubt their policies will do much to reduce personal debt, or the fact that eight out of ten debtors do nothing to resolve it.
IVAs in 2015
We hope a future government may reconsider bringing in the Simple IVA, which could become an accessible procedure that offers real debt relief and simple administration – and which could see the numbers of informal Debt Management Plans (which are not recorded in the Insolvency Service’s figures but which represent the majority of UK debt plans) plummet.
So – how many IVAs do you think were arranged in 2014?
I can’t quite remember what happened with Simple IVAs but I’d certainly welcome any move that provides an alternative to debt management in some instances. Of course, later this year we will see a upward spike in the number of Debt Relief Orders when the debt threshold increases. Whilst bankruptcy numbers continue to decline it will still be the right solution for some http://www.kealeyconsulting.co.uk