An IVA (individual voluntary arrangement) is normally only suitable for people who are struggling to maintain payments to their current debts and have a regular income.

In order to get an IVA, you must have spare income after you have met your essential living costs each month.

Your creditors will be obliged to agree to an IVA if you meet the other criteria needed to get an IVA plan. Your insolvency practitioner will be able to offer you more specific advice once they know your circumstances.

In order to qualify for an IVA, you must reside in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. You will also need the minimum requirements:

 Have £5,000 or More of unsecured debt

 Owe money to two or more creditors

 Live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland

 Maintain a payment of a minimum of £70 per month

All unsecured debts can go into an IVA. Here are some examples of the debts you can include:

Credit cards – Here are a few examples: Vanquis, Barclays, Natwest, Lloyds, HSBC, Tesco, Capital One

Unsecured loans – Barclays, Lloyds, Tesco, Wonga, Adverse Credit Loans Apply now

Payday Loans – Wonga, Lending Stream, Amigo, Satsuma, QuickQuid

 Catalogue and store card debts

 Credit Cards

 Personal Loans

 Overdrafts

 Gas, electricity, and water bill arrears

 Tax credit/ benefit overpayments

 Debts to family and friends

 Other outstanding bills

Pros of an IVA:

  It’s affordable, You only pay back what you can afford and normally only an agreed percentage of your debts

  You make only a single payment each month which is distributed to creditors on your behalf.

  You will be debt-free in a set period of time, normally 5 years

  Once your IVA is approved, All your creditors must agree to the IVA. Including the terms and conditions attached to an IVA

  By law, all interest and charges are frozen as long as you maintain your payments

  Your creditors will stop calling, Once enough of your creditors agree to an IVA at least 75% in value of the creditors will need to vote in favour

  Legally binding this means all creditor action, contact and demands will stop once the IVA has been approved

  You won’t be forced to sell your home, Your home is a protected asset in an IVA

Cons of an IVA:

 IVAs can be refused, Your creditors can refuse your IVA proposal but in most cases, we can negotiate with your creditors to get your IVA approved

  An IVA is a formal agreement, Therefore you need to make sure you comply with the terms and conditions attached to an IVA

  Your monthly repayments may leave you with a tight budget whilst your debts are repaid

 It will affect your credit score. IVAs remain on your credit file for 6 years from the day it starts, Some IVAs can last longer, therefore, this will show on your credit file for longer

 Not all debts can be included in an IVA, or example student loans, child support and maintenance, magistrate court fines and social fund loans are excluded from an IVA, but an allowance can be given to enable you to continue repaying these.

 If you fail to make the payments due under the terms of your IVA, then your arrangement could fail.

 Your IVA will be listed on the Individual Insolvency Service register

 If you fail to make the payments due under the terms of your IVA, then your arrangement could fail.

An IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) was introduced as part of The Insolvency Act 1986 to help debtors come to an arrangement to pay debts over a set period of time as an alternative to bankruptcy.

An IVA is a legally binding agreement made between a debtor and his/her creditors, due to the legality and regulations imposed on Insolvency Practitioners there is a set process each IVA application must follow:

▪️Complete A Review & Budget

▪️Prepare Your Proposal

▪️Meeting of Creditors (MOC)

An IVA (individual voluntary arrangement) is not free. Legally you cannot set up your own IVA. The insolvency practitioner who will set up your IVA will charge a fee.

This fee is normally taken as regular instalments from the payments you make towards your IVA (debts). The fee is to cover the cost of the advice offered by the insolvency practitioner, the time spent putting together the legal aspects of the IVA and negotiating with your creditors, also managing the IVA once it is set up.

Missing your IVA payment can be very risky, At all times you must keep your insolvency practitioner up to date with your current financial situation. Late payments may be acceptable if you have a good enough reason to why this has happened

Once you have missed 3 payments or equivalent then your practitioner will send you a ‘Notice of Breach’, Normally you will be allowed between one and three months to correct the problem explaining the missed payments and paying as soon as possible. Once you do this, no more action will be taken against you

Talk to your practitioner as the terms of your arrangement may be changeable but they can also terminate your IVA or apply to the court to make you bankrupt

You should always speak to your IVA provider as they will be able to help you in such a situation

If you own your home, you will almost certainly be asked to get a valuation on your house in the last year of your IVA. If remortgaging the house would raise more than £5,000, you will be asked to remortgage it and any money raised will be put towards paying back your debts. You will not have to sell your home. If remortgaging would extend the mortgage beyond its existing term, or put you beyond the state retirement age when it ends, you will not be expected to remortgage the property.

If you can’t remortgage your house for any reason (refusal by the bank, or complications with a jointly owned property, for example), you will have to pay your usual monthly payments under the terms of the IVA for an additional year.

It is possible but unlikely that you will be able to keep your home out of the IVA and thus avoid remortgaging it. If your insolvency practitioner feels that you will be able to pay back enough of your debts without including your house in your IVA, they may propose that it be excluded from the IVA when negotiating with your creditors, but this rarely happens.

An IVA is a preferred option by many homeowners as your asset is protected whereas the alternative of bankruptcy you would in most cases be asked to sell you home.

If you rent your home, nothing will happen as long as you keep paying your rent but we would always advise for you to check your tenancy agreement before entering any agreement.