The rates at which UK consumers turn to individual voluntary arrangements (IVA) as a solution to their debt problems is set to increase dramatically, it has been claimed.
A report from credit risk management firm TDX has suggested that the UK has around £25 billion worth of "problem" debt and that the scale of write-offs is likely to rise this year.
Close to 60 per cent of the country’s unsecured debt is accounted for by credit card arrears and the rate of entry into IVAs and other debt management solutions could be almost double this year than it was in 2007, according to TDX.
Around 400,000 Britons are believed to have entered either an IVA or a debt management solution last year and TDX has indicated that house price reductions and rising inflation will force many more people to take this action in 2008.
In January, accountancy firm Grant Thornton predicted that around 120,000 people in the UK will be declared insolvent in 2008.