IVA means consumer no longer has to hide

A consumer has explained how an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) has liberated her from a life of debt and fleeing from creditors.

In a Daily Mirror feature on how several women in bad debt have managed to get out of severe financial difficulties, 35-year-old, Bristol resident April Day explained how she piled up credit card debt month after month.

She admitted: “From my early 20s, I’d max out credit cards and only pay off the ¬minimum amount.”

Ms Day also took loans just in her own name which she shared with her boyfriend – until they split up leaving her facing the cost alone.

As a result, her financial circumstances deteriorated and she was unable to keep up with what she owed, with “frightening” consequences.

“I’d have to hide behind the sofa as bailiffs were knocking on the door,” Ms Day recalled.

However, by taking an IVA she was able to put a stop to this and although she had to forego many luxuries to keep up with the payments, she is now debt free after completing the three-year term of the deal, with the rest of what she owed being written off.

IVAs can last longer than three years, with the maximum period being five.

Ms Day noted she will have the IVA on her credit file for six years, but in the circumstances has learned to live without credit cards and does not want one now.

The number of people using IVAs is likely to rise this year, external affairs director for the Consumer Credit Counselling Service Delroy Corinaldi recently forecasted.

He said the economic situation, higher taxes and government cuts would all contribute to this.

By James Francis