Welsh IVA rates ‘soaring’

The rate at which Welsh consumers are resorting to Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) is increasing dramatically, according to the latest data from the Insolvency Service.

Since 2000, the number of people in Wales entering an IVA on an annual basis has risen by as much as 446 per cent and bankruptcies have increased by 168 per cent during the same period.

In response to these findings, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Jenny Willott suggested that more needs to be done to raise “financial literacy” rates among people living in Wales and that prime minister Gordon Brown has to take responsibility for the scale of the current problem.

“Now that the economy starting to slow, high interest rates are hitting an increasing number of Welsh families who have borrowed heavily to meet the rising cost of living and spiralling house prices,” said Ms Willott.

“This is the seventh consecutive year that the number of bankruptcies and IVAs in Wales has grown.”

Earlier this month, the Bank of England opted not to reduce the base rate of interest having done so by a quarter-point in February.