Credit Management Jan:Feb 2019

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EDITOR’S COLUMN The need for consistent, coherent and collaborative advice Sean Feast FCICM Managing Editor SINCE my article appeared in the December issue of Credit Management about the debt advice sector, my editor’s email inbox has been full to busting. OK, so that might be a slight exaggeration, brought on by an excess of jolliness left over from the Christmas festivities, along with the Sprouts, but I have certainly been contacted officially and through other channels by a strong number of those wishing to agree or disagree with what was written. Again, actually, that is another exaggeration, for at present I am yet to hear a dissenting voice, though interviews we have lined up with the chief executives of Christians Against Poverty (CAP) and StepChange Debt Charity (SCDC) in the coming weeks will undoubtedly add further intelligence and insight to the debate. Creditors and collection agencies are quite right in challenging the debt advice sector to prove that it is offering best advice and value for money, and not simply going to pay for salaries and overheads. But what they are also questioning, which is perhaps even more important, is what the debt advice sector and the regulator are doing to ensure the quality of advice debtors are receiving. I believe all of the industry – creditors, agencies and advisors alike – are agreed that whatever happens going forward, the quality of advice given needs to be consistent, coherent, and collaborative. Consumers in financial straits – debtors as we used to call them and some people in Government still do – need to be able to trust the advice and information they are given. That advice needs to help them to manage their debt and improve their outcome, and not make a bad situation worse. All of the organisations I have spoken to recognise the challenge, and particularly the need to maintain quality as the volumes increase, as increase they must. Demand is not the issue; capacity most certainly is, and to that end let us hope that the new Single Financial Guidance body (SFGB) is successful in directing consumers to help where it is available (see news page 10). An excess of jolliness left over from the Christmas festivities, along with the Sprouts. The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / January / February 2019 / PAGE 4
CMNEWS A round-up of news stories from the world of consumer and commercial credit Written by – Sean Feast FCICM and Alex Simmons New regulatory framework for IVA monitoring THE Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA) is launching a new regulatory framework for the continuous monitoring of the use of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) by the high-volume IVA providers. The Insolvency Service classifies high-volume as those firms that are responsible for two percent of the total number of IVAs annually. An IVA is one of the debt management solutions available to consumers, which allows individuals to enter into a binding agreement with their creditors to repay part of what they owe over a typical period of five years. An IVA must be supervised by an Insolvency Practitioner (IP) and the majority of IPs who work on IVAs are regulated by the IPA. The quantity of people seeking debt relief through an IVA has increased significantly over the past ten years, with numbers in 2017 exceeding 59,000 and the IPA is keen to ensure that the sector has a robust and meaningful process of regulation that will give protection to consumer debtors and particularly those considered to be vulnerable. The IPA believes that the traditional method of regulation does not facilitate meaningful supervision of the highvolume providers who are reliant on technology to deliver the volumes of cases that are commenced each year. Consequently, it will introduce a new way to regulate the industry using continuous monitoring, with real-time access to systems. This, the IPA says, will provide the IPA inspectors with the information they need to target visits on those areas that require rapid improvement. The IPA reports that it will also expand its inspector network, and bring in specialists, to enable more frequent inspections for those organisations operating in this work with up to four visits a year, where there is usually just one. Michelle Thorp, CEO of the IPA says the vast majority of IPs act with integrity and in the very best interests of their clients and stakeholders: “Given the changing nature of the industry, we have been working to adapt our regulatory practices and this is an important improvement to how we deliver our obligations to regulate IPs in this sector. “The outcome, which is a much more intensive regime, will be to improve trust and confidence in this sector and to enable us to help our IPs improve their working practices. The outcome for the consumer should be a greater degree of trust in the help they are getting at what can be an incredibly tough time. It will also provide confidence to creditors the IVA process is transparent and that the regulatory framework meaningful and robust.” insolvency-practitioners.org.uk CICM restructures to deliver further member focus THE CICM has announced a series of new appointments and changes in roles and responsibilities at the Institute’s headquarters. Effective from January 2019, Sue Chapple has become Director of Strategic Relationships looking after Corporate Partners, business development and all other aspects of strategic relationships, while Anne Strahan has assumed responsibility for HR, Governance, and other administrative areas, in addition to her current finance role as Director of Finance and Administration. Claire Bishop will take on the role of Director of Operations with responsibility for membership, branches, marketing, events, IT, qualifications, education, and other support activity, while Debbie Tuckwood will be relinquishing operational responsibility and taking on a new parttime role of Chief Adviser (Professional Development). Debbie’s extensive skills and experience will be utilised in promoting the CICM’s qualifications more widely, identifying how they should develop and evolve, and working on specific training and educational projects with clients and member organisations. Debbie will remain a member of the senior management team alongside Anne, Claire and Sue. In the short-term, Debbie will continue as Responsible Officer for the Awarding Body under Ofqual requirements. The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.com / January / February 2019 / PAGE 5
Page 1: CREDIT MANAGEMENT CM JANUARY/FEBRUA
Page 6 and 7: NEWS IN BRIEF CICM TO RELAUNCH EAST
Page 8 and 9: NEWS IN BRIEF Pack your bags NEW a
Page 10 and 11: NEWS IN BRIEF Prize Winners Two ca
Page 12 and 13: INSOLVENCY Trust, transparency, con
Page 14 and 15: OPINION AUTHOR - SEAN FEAST FCICM P
Page 16 and 17: OPINION AUTHOR - SEAN FEAST FCICM M
Page 18 and 19: TOWN AND COUNTRY CHEMICAL REACTION
Page 20 and 21: CREDIT PRODUCTS DUN & Bradstreet of
Page 22 and 23: VIEW FROM THE SEAFRONT A classical
Page 24 and 25: COUNTRY FOCUS Northern Ireland is o
Page 26 and 27: TRADE TALK PANIC STATIONS How busin
Page 28 and 29: INTERNATIONAL TRADE Monthly round-u
Page 30 and 31: HIGH COURT ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ASS
Page 32 and 33: OPINION PULLING THE WOOL Looks can
Page 34 and 35: 80 YEARS OF THE CICM Meeting of min
Page 36 and 37: PAYMENT TRENDS Reasons to be cheerf
Page 38 and 39: THE RECOGNISED STANDARD CICM Britis
Page 40 and 41: LEGAL MATTERS More FOS anyone? Prop
Page 42 and 43: INTRODUCING OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS
Page 44 and 45: INTRODUCING OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS
Page 46 and 47: ASK THE EXPERTS Payment received? W
Page 48 and 49: EDUCATION REACHING THE TOP The role
Page 50 and 51: HR MATTERS Deliberate data disclosu
Page 52 and 53: CAREER’S ADVICE NEW YEAR NEW ROLE
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The Recognised Standard / www.cicm.
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AWARDING BODY LEVEL 3 DIPLOMA IN CR
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BRANCH NEWS Deal or No Deal Confere
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TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CREDIT CAREER
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View our digital version online at
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Cr£ditWho? CICM Directory of Servi
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Cr£ditWho? CICM Directory of Servi
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www.tcmgroup.com Probably thebest d
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