‘IVA Council’ was ‘foolish’

‘The IVA Council’ has admitted to Credit Today that they were ‘foolish’ to advise people to stop making payments to their IVAs.

Jonathan Baker, The IVA Council’s (IVAC) auditor, said the IVAC sent out letters advising debtors not to make any further contributions to their IVA and not to contact their Insolvency Practitioner. He said “It was foolish on our behalf. We’ve taken advice.”

IVAC has also removed unauthorised government logos and changed the content on its website which was very similar to that of the official government body The Insolvency Service who has asked its lawyers to investigate.

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'IVA Council' makes false claims

If you have recently received a letter from ‘The IVA Council’, then make sure you read this.

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Recent press coverage of The IVA Council (IVAC) has exposed its false claims made in letters sent to people already in IVAs which attempt to link it to government and The Insolvency Service.

The letter’s recipient is warned that they might be a victim of mis-selling by their Insolvency Practitioner resulting in a possible refund of fees and contributions. A “government licensed debt adjuster” is offered in support of this claim.

However, The Insolvency Service has confirmed that there is no relationship between the two organisations and that its lawyers are currently investigating the situation.

Any person in an IVA who has received a letter from IVAC needs to be aware of the following:

IVAC has no ‘Consumer Credit Licence’ number evident on its website. You need this to be able to give debt advice, according to the requirements set out by the Office of Fair Trading

IVAC offers no ‘Data Protection’ registration details which is necessary for a business that will be recording data.

IVAC has no ‘Limited Company’ (Ltd) details, registration number or company address which is a mandatory requirement on all emails and letters from any Ltd company

IVAC has used the logo of IP trade body R3, which it does not have permission to do.

Credit Today published that ‘numerous attempts’ to contact IVAC had been unsuccessful. (25 October 2007)

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Buy now, Pay later! UK Admits Debt Problem

According to figures released recently by the Bank of England, our personal debt mountain has hit an all-time high of £1,300 billion (£1.3 trillion).

This figure first exceeded the £trillion mark in mid-2004. Since then, we’ve borrowed another astonishing £300 billion in just 33 months. Since 2000, the UKs personal debt level has grown by a massive 110%. It has tripled in the past twelve years, rising from just £439 billion at the end of January 1995 to £1,300 billion earlier this year. This equates to a growth rate of almost 10% a year compounded.

The problem is our after-tax disposable income has risen by just 5% a year over the same period. You don’t have to be a mathematician to work out that this just doesn’t add up.

Buy now, pay later may sound like a great idea, but spending tomorrow’s money today can make you poorer further down the line. If you find yourself opening your bank and credit card statements and wondering where it all went wrong then you should seek advice straight away from a non fee-charging free debt advice company such as Payplan.

You can call Payplan free on 0800 280 2816

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Are You Using Credit Cards To Pay Your Mortgage?

During the last 12 months, 6% of debtors struggling to pay their rent or mortgage have turned to the plastic to cover shortfalls on their monthly re-payments.

Housing charity Shelter has found that financially stretched borrowers are using credit cards to ensure that payments are made to their priority creditors. Worse still, 7.5% of young people between 18 - 24 years old, desperate to keep their feet on the housing ladder, are getting themselves deeper into debt as a result.

Shelter has a right to be concerned:

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) recently announced a 30% rise in house re-possessions for the first 6 months of this year, compared to the same period in 2006.

Bank of England interest rates have risen 5 times during the last 12 months from 4.75% - 5.75%. This has hit many home-owners hard with rapidly increasing mortgage re-payments that have now become unmanageable.

On top of this, concerns that US sub-prime lenders (specialising in mortgages and secured loans for people with poor credit histories) have been irresponsibly lending too much to those who cannot afford to pay has lead to a credit crunch in the UK.

Lenders have responded by restricting their lending on mortgages and unsecured credit. Barclays recently cut the credit limits of over 500,000 card-holders who were over their card limits or who were financially stretched.

Home-owners coming out of 2 or 3 year fixed rate mortgages face mortgage shock, where they are unable to find comparable deals and therefore can expect stiff increases in their monthly mortgage re-payments.

If any of these issues are affecting you, then you should seek advice straight away from a non fee-charging free debt advice company such as Payplan.

You can call Payplan free on 0800 280 2816

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