IVA help could be required by more households, as new figures reveal that UK consumers are continuing to spend themselves into financial difficulty. The widely held opinion, in financial circles, was that we are tightening our spending in order to avoid future debt problems, however, recent statistics show that this may not be the case.

The global credit crunch may have convinced us to stop spending for a while, however this trend may be starting to reverse.

According to figures released by Unbiased.co.uk, for every £1 that is being saved in the UK, 26p is borrowed. This is in sharp contrast to the second half of last year, when for every £1 saved, £1.61 of debt was actually repaid.

It would seem that more households are using credit to fund their lifestyle, and this will inevitably lead to more people getting themselves in over their heads. Whenever there is a jump in borrowing, there soon follows an increase in the number of people applying for debt management assistance and IVA advice.

In the period from April through to June this year, UK consumers borrowed £5.5 billion. This is almost twice as much as was borrowed in the first three months of the year. IVA help specialists are gearing up for the demand that will surely follow this increase in borrowing.

An IVA can offer a lifeline to over-indebted people, by helping to reduce monthly outgoings, and making debts more affordable. Only unsecured debts can be included on an IVA, such as personal loans, store cards and credit card debt for example.