Personal Debt a Bigger Issue to 1/3 of Brits Than Terrorism, Healthcare and the Environment

Personal Debt a Bigger Issue to 1/3 of Brits Than Terrorism, Healthcare and the Environment

LONDON, August 2/PRNewswire/ --

- IVA.co.uk Debt Evening Explores Developments in the Insolvency Industry Through Lively Debate

Personal debt was revealed as a key issue to Brits in research conducted by IVA.co.uk, the UK's biggest online IVA community for information and advice about Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), and presented at the IVA.co.uk Debt Evening on 1st August.

Held two days before the release of the Department of Trade and Industry's insolvency statistics for Q2 2007, the IVA.co.uk Debt Evening was attended by a host of insolvency and credit professionals, press and consumers.

According to the research, conducted for IVA.co.uk by Ipsos MORI, almost a third of Brits (31%) rate personal debt as a more important issue in Britain than Terrorism, Healthcare and the Environment, with almost 1 in 10 (9.3%) rating debt as the no.1 issue in Britain.

The research also revealed that 8 out of 10 Brits (84%) believe that financial credit (such as loans, credit cards etc.) is too easy to obtain, while almost two thirds (61%) believe that going insolvent (going bankrupt or taking out an IVA) is also too easy.

Following the presentation of the research, an hour-long debate took place which looked at 4 key issues surrounding debt and insolvency:

- The relationship between creditors, consumers and the debt solutions industry.

- The Simple IVA and its implications.

- Regulation of the debt solutions industry.

- The macroeconomic effect of the IVA.

The expert panel was made up of:

- Mark Allen, partner at Grant Thornton.

- Dr Karl Taylor, reader in economics at the University of Sheffield.

- Jonathan Said, senior economist at the CEBR (Centre for Economics and Business Research).

- Vincent Cable, MP for Twickenham.

The event was filmed and will be available to view on IVA.co.uk's online television channel, IVA TV (tv.iva.co.uk).

A full transcription of the IVA.co.uk Debt Evening debate will be viewable here: http://tv.iva.co.uk/debtevening

Further information can be found by visiting http://debtevening.iva.co.uk/.

Key comments from the expert panel and attendees follow below:

On communication between creditors, debtors and debt solution providers:

Vincent Cable

The relationship between debt and income in Britain is now roughly 160 ratio %, which is the highest it has ever been in our history, and the highest in the developed world, and that's partly a product of the deregulation of credit.

Mark Allen

There wasn't a relationship 18 months ago. When the IVAs went up by 40% last year and it was hitting the bad debt revisions, the banks certainly wanted a higher involvement, and so I think there could be better understanding on both sides.

The Simple IVA:

Mark Allen

We need to show that we are in a heavily regulated industry, there is alignment of fees, and there is a sharing of benefits, and if we can do that, then we can move forward.

Ian Holland, Debt Resolution Forum

One thing that I find the most disappointing is that banks don't seem to recognise that they're part of the problem; they don't think they've done it wrong.

Regulation of the lending and insolvency industry:

Vincent Cable

Lending and the promotion of lending is largely unregulated... institutions have no incentives to show any restraints or responsibility.

Dr Karl Taylor

The issue for me is whether the individuals and households actually have the financial assets to cover any secured / non-secured debt that they have.

The macroeconomic situation:

Jonathan Said

If you compare the United Kingdom with the continent, the UK does have a freer economy where the government plays less of a role (...) we do need to accept that the standards of living that we have as a collective are essentially driven by people taking risks, credit.

Dr Karl Taylor

(Consumer debt is) an important part of the economy, because obviously debt drives consumer expenditure, and that is a large proportion of GDP, so I don't think that things are going to change drastically in the future.

Notes to Editor:

About IVA.co.uk

IVA.co.uk is the UK's biggest online IVA community for information and advice about Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs). It is a leading authority on debt and finance in the UK.

IVA.co.uk was formed in 2005 to help improve understanding of debt and debt solutions in Britain by providing expert advice and a live forum alongside a regular roundup of the latest news, statistics, and research from the world of debt solutions.

The 'IVA Forum' (iva.co.uk/forum) was launched in Jan 2006 to enable the community to discuss IVA issues. The IVA forum now has 2,800 members and over 30,000 posts.

Online TV channel 'IVA TV' (tv.iva.co.uk) was launched in December 2006 to report on issues surrounding IVAs and debt. IVA TV combines interviews, news reports and video guides with programs devised and created by members of the IVA.co.uk community.

'IVA Community Blogs' (blogs.iva.co.uk) was launched in January 2007 to provide free blogging space for anyone from the IVA community. IVA bloggers include: people undergoing an IVA; IVA Forum posters; and experts who use the space to comment on news and give personal views on IVA issues.

IVA.co.uk also hosts a free helpline, providing advice on all debt solutions (0800 197 4838). The IVA helpline advisers are provided by debt solutions provider, Thomas Charles.

IVA.co.uk was created by, and is maintained by, Community121 (www.community121.com), builders of niche community websites.

The survey:

All research was commissioned by IVA.co.uk and conducted by Ipsos MORI.

Total sample size was 1000 adults aged 16 - 64. Fieldwork was undertaken between 20 - 24th July 2007. The survey was carried out by an online omnibus. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (16 - 64).

Key tables are given below:

          Thinking about Great Britain as a whole, can you please put the issues     below in order of importance to you:     -------------------------------------------------------------------------     Total       Most  2nd Most  3rd Most  4th Most  5th Most  6th Most  Least                Impor     Impor     Impor     Impor     Impor     Impor  Impor                -tant     -tant     -tant     -tant     -tant     -tant  -tant     -------------------------------------------------------------------------     Personal    9.3%      8.4%     10.0%     12.3%     17.6%     31.4%  10.9%     debt     Education 14.5%     21.7%     19.5%     17.5%     12.5%     11.1%    3.1%     Health-     care      29.6%     28.3%     19.5%     13.0%      7.8%      1.5%    0.2%     Transport  2.8%      7.9%     14.9%     20.1%     27.3%     22.8%    4.2%     Terrorism 24.4%     14.5%     15.4%     13.8%     14.3%     12.4%    5.3%     The     Environ-     ment      13.9%     17.6%     17.4%     21.2%     15.9%     10.2%    3.7%     Another     issue      5.5%      1.6%      3.2%      2.0%      4.6%     10.5%   72.6%     -------------------------------------------------------------------------  

          ---------------------------------------     Rated personal debt       Percentage of     above                       respondents     ---------------------------------------     Education                         31.3%     Healthcare                        20.8%     Transport                         45.3%     Terrorism                         31.3%     Environment                       31.8%     ---------------------------------------  

          Financial credit (such as loans, credit cards etc)     is too easy to obtain in Great Britain     ---------------------------------------                               Percentage of                                 respondents     ---------------------------------------     Strongly agree                    51.1%     Tend to agree                     32.9%     Neither agree nor                 11.4%     disagree     Tend to disagree                   3.6%     Strongly disagree                  1.1%     Total Agree                         84%     Total Disagree                     4.7%     ---------------------------------------  

          Going insolvent (i.e. going bankrupt or taking out an Individual     Voluntary Arrangement) is too easy in Great Britain.     ---------------------------------------                               Percentage of                                 respondents     ---------------------------------------     Strongly agree                    29.1%     Tend to agree                     31.8%     Neither agree nor                 30.2%     disagree     Tend to disagree                   7.0%     Strongly disagree                  1.8%     Total Agree                         61%     Total Disagree                     8.8%     ---------------------------------------  

          For further information please contact:          Alison Melville     Press Officer     +44-(0)20-8328-9495  

Source: IVA.co.uk

For further information please contact: Alison Melville, Press Officer, +44-(0)20-8328-9495, Alison@iva.co.uk

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