January is traditionally the toughest month for families struggling to balance bills and food costs with debts – many of which have been topped up by the annual Christmas overspending. And the number of people applying for Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) and other forms of help with their debts bears this out.

Terry Balfour, director of an IVA comparison website, said, "January is the cruellest month when it comes to bills and for many already feeling the pressure of higher mortgage repayments along with the raft of outgoings needed purely to service debt this explains why we are experiencing such a surge in queries for IVAs.

"And with similar reports filtering from the industry about the number of phone calls and emails about debt advice, we predict it will outstrip 2007's total of 110,000 insolvencies, when £1.3 billion was written off in bad debts as a result of IVAs."

Enquiries not just about IVAs

It isn't just the number of IVA applications that is soaring this in this year's January rush to beat the debts. A spokeswoman for Citizens Advice said, "Citizens Advice Bureaux are dealing with something in the region of more than 1.7 million debt problems a year at the moment.

"It is an all-year-round problem but we do generally see quite a seasonal peak in the New Year period which can feed through into February," she added.

From payday to IVA: six long weeks

The January effect on IVAs and other debt matters isn't helped by the fact many people are paid at the start of the Christmas period – often leaving more than six weeks until the next payday. This can stretch a family's finances to breaking point, meaning some bills or debt payments go unpaid and overdraft limits get breached. Such times are often the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Families that do find their debts are becoming unmanageable are advised to seek help sooner rather than later to prevent their debts growing uncontrollably and to avoid the threat of bankruptcy.

Talk to Varden Nuttall about an IVA

Varden Nuttall has been established for more than 15 years and is dedicated to helping people in financial difficulty find a debt management solution through an IVA. We employ 90 people, including trained and skilled IVA administrators, and are one of the largest IVA companies in the UK, where we handle more than three per cent of all individual voluntary arrangement applications. To find out more about the company, or to make an appointment to talk about putting an IVA in place, call us today on 0800 031 9802 or fill in our online enquiry form.