IVAs may, typically, cut a person’s debt in half (and sometimes better), but the person in an IVA is doing their darndest to repay as much as they can – frankly most creditors should be a little more liberal in their attitude to what constitutes acceptable costs of living: They are dealing with people who will be good future customers; people who have learnt to manage their money and who will have a surplus to put into savings and pensions, etc.

It’s those who choose bankruptcy that walk away from their debts – and the banks get less from bankrupts too: so why not encourage the IVA?