News

Research carried out by debt advice charity Debt Advice Foundation has revealed 47% of people struggling with debt are hiding their financial problems from loved-ones, with 21% claiming they’d been burdened with their partner’s debts.

A company called the IVA Review Board (IRB) is sending letters to debtors in individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) suggesting they may be able to stop making payments – despite attempts by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to revoke its licence.

Industry experts warn that the letters could lead to debtors having their IVAs terminated. Mark Sands, head of bankruptcy at Tenon Recovery, said: "Once arrears go beyond a certain level then it’s likely the IVAs will be terminated and the debtor will have to start all over again."

Statistics released by money advice charity Credit Action reveal that total UK personal debt increased 0.7 per cent in the 12 months up to the end of November 2009 to £1.46trn. However, bucking the long-term trend, consumer credit lending actually fell by a net £400m during the month of November as banks continued to tighten their belts.

Secured lending continued to grow, up £1.5bn and the charity estimates that the average household debt including mortgages in the UK is now £57,888.

The number of new repossessions in the third quarter of 2009 reached 14,000 in a 2.8 per cent rise on the previous three months, data from the Financial Services Authority reveals.

The FSA’s data on UK mortgage lending shows that this number of repossessions was five per cent below the peak at the start of the year, while new arrears cases continued to fall, decreasing 10 per cent in the third quarter to 46,000.