John Hartson, the former Wales, Celtic, Arsenal and West Ham striker, has recently entered an Individual Voluntary Agreement, or IVA. An IVA is a means of dealing with debts and avoiding bankruptcy and is typically facilitated by an insolvency practitioner such as those at tri group.
Hartson stated that, despite signing the arrangement he is still being chased by creditors for more than £300,000 of gambling debts. The ex-footballer stated that there are people are constantly “hassling” him for money. The 36-year-old is a father of four and he has been quoted as saying that “Some people just can’t let it go and they are still hassling me. They are still offering me the opportunity to bet, trying to make a way into my friendship. I don’t want to go down that road again.” He has previously admitted that he has owed up to £400,000 because of his gambling habit.
Hartson, who was born in Swansea, South Wales earned 51 caps during his international football career. He retired from professional football after being released by West Bromwich Albion in January 2008, and has survived a battle with testicular cancer. The football star has said that bookmakers are still attempting to entice him back into the gambling world, despite being signed up for the IVA. The agreement states that John will repay 12p of every £1 he still owes and is living off £250 a week, a figure which was agreed between Hartson and his creditors. In addition, his pension has been taken away in order to pay creditors.
He also stated “I’ve paid back as much as I can of my debt. I cannot physically afford to repay any more. At one point I owed between three and four hundred grand… I have done my best to pay back what I can because I have never knocked anyone in my life. I’m a good guy. I was struggling with an illness: gambling.”
If you or your business is suffering because of debt problems, tri group can offer you insolvency advice. We recognise that debt problems are not simply numbers on a sheet of paper, we understand that financial difficulties can create enormous distress and that advice about debt is much more than just juggling numbers.
We attribute credit for this article to Debt Management Today.