Does an IVA Come with a Social Stigma?
Monday, March 15th, 2010Bankruptcy has always had something of a social stigma attached to it. It is seen by many, particularly amongst the older generations, to be the ultimate financial failure. In many cases, it is also often assumed that bankruptcy comes as the result of someone mismanaging their money, operating poor spending habits and generally not being so financially savvy. Of course this is undoubtedly true in a number of cases, but there are situations where financial catastrophe can come about as a result of an emergency or circumstances beyond an individual’s control.
One alternative to bankruptcy is an IVA. Essentially, this is a legal arrangement between a debtor and his or her creditors, whereby the debtor makes a set repayment for an agreed period, often 5 years. This repayment is based on what he or she can realistically afford and the total repaid often amounts to much less than what was originally owed. Nonetheless, at the end of the agreed time period, the debts are considered to be settled in full.
But is there a social stigma attached to an IVA in the same way as bankruptcy?
To a certain extent there is. There are many people who would still see this as a financial failure. Would you really want to be getting IVA advice from your friends in the pub? It still means that somebody taking out an IVA has got themselves into more debt than they can handle. However an IVA is different to a bankruptcy because it will not be printed in the local press. It means that an IVA can be kept private apart from your creditors and yourself, which can be an immense weight lifted.
A lot of the social stigma is surrounding the perception that bankruptcy is “running away from your debts”. Bankruptcy means your debts will not get paid because you have no means with which to pay them. An IVA means that rather than getting swamped in the debt, the debtor pays back the maximum they can afford, and while less will be paid back they are still paying some.
There seems to be an overall taboo around the area of debt. While an IVA is perhaps less of a stigma than bankruptcy, it seems that debt in general is a rather tricky topic for us to openly discuss.
James Robinson is an expert in financial matters and iva help

