Business minister, Edward Davey revealed plans to reform legislation and guidance on personal insolvency and debt advice following public consultation conducted earlier this year.
Kevin Still, director at Atlantic, said: “Atlantic Financial Management is a member of the Debt Management Standards Association whose code of conduct is approved by the Office of Fair Trading . We strongly believe that the measures that the OFT are currently taking in strengthening the Debt Management Guidance and taking enforcement action against those providers that don’t comply can only be in the best interests of consumers, creditors and the reputable debt solution providers to which Davey makes reference.
“There is an absolute requirement for better collaboration and for agreed standards to be set out with regard to the provision of debt advice and the resultant debt solution, which includes the creditor obligations when dealing with a consumer or micro-business in financial hardship. The updated Lending Code and the OFT Debt Collection Guidance supports this.
"There should be more consistency in service delivery, irrespective of whether the resultant debt solution is formal e.g. an IVA, or informal e.g. Debt Management Plan.
“As a debt solution provider, we currently sign-post the most vulnerable to the free sector, notably where they meet the criteria for a Debt Relief Order or their personal unsecured debts are not the top priority because there are other more urgent factors that may need to be taken into account, for example, eviction from their home.
“We also feel strongly that there should be wider consideration given to how consumers can rebuild their credit profile and rating for the future, where re-mortgaging or downsizing may become a necessity. People who have sought professional debt advice and then stuck to a long-term debt solution like an IVA or a DMP have generally shown serious financial responsibility without resorting to further borrowing to make a fair contribution to their creditors.
"Future lending practices need to take account of this as the UK emerges from a protracted recession, where debt problems are likely to get worse for UK homeowners before they get better.”
