IVAs ‘could be on the rise’

Individual voluntary arrangements could soon be on the increase, it has been warned.

The UK Insolvency Helpline has spoken out in response to a House of Commons report that slammed the government’s attempts to reduce customer debt as “a compete failure”.

It has forecast insolvency could be on the rise, along with repossessions and interest rates.

A scheme by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – which aimed to offer guidance to people in economic turmoil – has been described as ineffective by a report issued by the Committee of Public Accounts.

Ian Boden Smyth, spokesperson for the Helpline, said banks that are trying to keep matters at bay – by offering individuals interest-only mortgages, for instance – are “falsely propping up” the economy.

The report claimed that the arrangements for coordinating the 51 different initiatives created by the government under the scheme had not worked and nobody had been in charge.