Regulation mooted for bad debt firms

Invites are being sent to the big debt firms to look at creating a code of conduct for the sector.

“We have been trying to talk to the banks about the issues but we’ve had difficulty getting together with them,” said Paul Latham, finance director of Debt Free Direct, in the Daily Telegraph.

“We are set up to be regulated and have nothing to fear from regulation.”

News of proposed self-regulation comes as official figures show that the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) sector expands rapidly as people struggle to cope with debt.

However, many firms have been criticised for the way they claim to help people manage debt and self-regulation could go some way to improving the industry’s image.