IVA

• Write-off up to 75% of your debt.
• Stop interest & charges
• Reduced monthly payments.
• Stop court actions against you.
• Avoid the stigma of bankruptcy

If you feel that the symptoms of your debt problem are in need of serious treatment, when you’re struggling to keep up with repayments on your unsecured debt but want to avoid bankruptcy, an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) could be the best course of action.

Unlike the more informal debt management plan, an IVA is a legally binding contract between you and your creditors. Firstly, we’ll assist you in drawing up an IVA proposal that will outline what you can realistically afford repay on your outstanding debt and help you to avoid bankruptcy.

The IVA will be brokered on your behalf by a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner (IP), who will assess your situation and approach your creditors with your proposal.

The IP will attempt to negotiate a settlement with the majority of your creditors but remember that even a reduced payment of your original loan total will be a better option for them than the expense of pursuing a claim in bankruptcy.

How do IVAs work?

As everyone’s situation is different, the treatment timeline can vary, as can the exact procedure. For more details you should read our more detailed IVA Procedure resource.

If you think that this could be the right debt solution for you, one of our professional debt advisors will contact you to discuss your circumstances, make a debt diagnosis and to see if this is the best option for you. They’ll collate all the relevant evidence about your financial health and circumstances before drawing up a proposal that will be acceptable to your creditors. We’ll also try to establish the cause of your debt problems and do what we can to address those issues.

As the procedure is highly complex and can involve many different parties, it can take up to 6 weeks. During this time, your Insolvency Practitioner draw up the proposal, organise signatures and distribute the relevant documentation. However, once you’ve outlined your circumstances and provided any supporting documentation, we’ll do the majority of the work for you. You’ll just need to carefully read and sign any documentation.

Upon receiving the final proposal, your Insolvency Practitioner will call a meeting of your creditors where they will be asked to make a decision on your IVA. The Insolvency Practitioner will act as Chairman, though in fact it is extremely rare for a creditor to attend, they will usually have voted in advance.

If 75% of your creditors, by value of debt rather than headcount, agree to the proposal, they will approve it and appoint a Supervisor, who will usually be the Insolvency Practitioner who proposed the IVA on your behalf.

For more information about the Pros and Cons of an IVA or you can see our list of Frequently Asked Questions on Individual Voluntary Arrangements.