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The Insolvency Service has released figures which show that nearly 88,000 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) were registered in England and Wales in the course of 2022. This represents the highest figure since 1990, when records began. So what are IVAs, why have they increased so much, and what might it mean for you as a creditor? What Is an IVA? Introduced in 1986, an IVA is a formal alternative to bankruptcy

Most people would agree that the financial sector has been in dire need of more targeted regulation — and, on the whole, those companies that have always operated ethically would also agree. In a sector tarnished by everything from the LIBOR scandal to consumer scams, tougher regulations should allow firms already meeting or exceeding those standards to get a head-start. What’s the Background to the Strategy? S

Debts come in many shapes and sizes. Most of the debts I recover are owed to private businesses or landlords, but money can also be owed to public bodies, including council tax due to local authorities. But are these debts a special case? The Dilemma of Council Tax Debts Councillors in Wolverhampton recently launched a drive to recover thousands of pounds owed in unpaid council taxes, and are looking at possible stra

One of the worst things about being in debt is that it can seem there’s no way out. You might certainly think negotiating with your creditors is a non-starter. After all, they hold all the cards, don’t they? It’s not as bleak as you might think, though. In some cases, a negotiated settlement could be your way out of debt. How Does a Negotiated Settlement Work? What you have going for you in negotiations is that your

If you’re applying for credit, it’s important to make it easy for the person looking at your application. They’re only human, and if you catch them on a hard day with an application that’s difficult to follow, they may simply decide to reject it, rather than try to make sense of what you’ve sent. All About Your Business Whether your business is a company or a sole trader, remember to giv

What can’t you do online in 2015? Pay your bills (check), do the weekly shop (check), book a holiday (check), find romance (check, if you’re lucky!). But try settling a small dispute with another business and you’ll find that there is no simple form to complete on the laptop or smartphone during a few snatched minutes of downtime. Instead you will need to enter the antiquated – and often lengthy and confusing – world

All the evidence is that small- and medium-sized companies are still finding it hard to borrow from the traditional source of business capital, the banks, to expand. Now, one of the few global internet businesses that encourages small firms, rather than trying to obliterate or buy up all the competition, has come up with an alternative source of cash. So often, the business plan for digital firms involves emulating A

Two big takeover deals involving well-known debt collection firms in the past month caught my eye. First, the company described by the Financial Times as Britain’s largest debt collector, Cabot Credit Management, which is controlled by American debt recovery group Encore and New York buyout house JC Flowers, bought its smaller UK rival Marlin Financial. Marlin and its £2 billion worth of loans were bought from privat

  Once upon a time your bank manager would, according to the television ad by the London clearing banks, pop out of a cupboard under the stairs to lend a financial helping hand. At the time the high street banks had a gentleman’s agreement not to advertise individually on TV, but wanted more people to open current accounts boasting such innovations  as cheque guarantee cards. Obtaining a bank loan depended then

The coal face in business today is where the sales team carves out deals with customers and the finance department shovels up the money afterwards. But when payment doesn’t swiftly follow the sale, a company can be starved of the vital oxygen of commerce – cash. Credit managers are sometimes called the ‘sales avoidance department’. But productivity improves when sales people and accountants work together, say the Cra