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An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a formal debt solution that helps you take back control through affordable monthly payments. It protects you from creditor contact and legal action, giving you the breathing room to focus on moving forward.
As a UK resident, you may be eligible to write off a portion of your unsecured debt. With interest and charges frozen from the day your IVA begins, you don’t need to worry about your debt growing while you repay what you can afford.
Your personalised IVA plan is based entirely on your financial circumstances. If approved, it allows you to make regular payments for a set term, this is usually five years. After that, any remaining qualifying debt is written off, leaving you with a clean slate and a fresh start.
Once the IVA is complete – which usually takes around five years – any outstanding debts will be written off.
An IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) is a formal debt solution that helps you manage what you owe through an affordable monthly payment plan. It’s available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. An IVA plan typically lasts five to six years.
IVA’s let you pay back all or part of your debts without facing pressure from creditors. It’s legally binding, so once agreed, creditors can’t chase you. Many people prefer an IVA plan to bankruptcy, especially if they want to protect a business or avoid losing assets.
To apply for an IVA, you’ll usually need at least £5,000 of unsecured debt, more than one creditor and a regular income that supports monthly payments.
You can include debts like credit cards, personal loans, Council Tax arrears, overdrafts, HMRC debts and mortgage shortfalls. However, it’s important to remember not all debts qualify, so always check before applying.
To set up an IVA, you’ll need to work with a licensed insolvency practitioner. They’ll review your income, debts and living costs to create a payment plan for your creditors.
Your creditors will be asked to approve the plan. If those holding at least 75% of your debt agree, the IVA becomes legally binding on everyone. You’ll make one monthly payment, which your practitioner will divide between creditors.
An IVA plan protects you from further action by lenders, offering a clear way to manage debt over five to six years.
The cost of an IVA in the UK includes setup and handling fees, usually charged by your insolvency practitioner. These are built into your monthly payments, so you won’t pay anything upfront separately.
While IVA fees can vary, you’ll agree the costs in advance. Everything is taken from what you can afford so once your IVA plan begins, you’ll make just one affordable payment each month.
Once your IVA plan ends, you won’t have to make any more monthly payments, even if the full debt wasn’t cleared, unless you receive a large windfall, which may be used to pay creditors.
Your IVA stays on your credit report for six years and appears on the Insolvency Register, but is removed three months after the agreement finishes.
If you miss payments, your individual voluntary arrangement could be cancelled, which may lead to bankruptcy, so it’s important to stay on track.
We’ll look at your income, spending and debts to see if an IVA is the right fit. If it is, we’ll work out what you can realistically afford and build a proposal that protects your essentials like rent, food and bills.
Not everyone qualifies, but that’s where we come in. Our friendly, FCA-authorised advisors will talk you through your options clearly and without pressure.
*based on the percentage of debt forgiveness upon completion.
Credit Score Pop Up Wording : An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a formal agreement with creditors to repay a portion of your debts over time, but it does have an impact on your credit score and it will be difficult to obtain further credit whilst on an IVA. Once an IVA is approved, it is recorded on your credit report and will typically remain there for six years from the date it starts.
However, it’s important to note this is the case for most debt solutions and your credit score will likely already have been affected by being in debt in the first place.
Once your IVA is complete you will get a fresh start to begin rebuilding your credit rating.
IVA costs are charged for the preparation of your proposal and the administration of the arrangement for the full term (usually 5 years) these costs are charged from the monthly contributions you make into the IVA and are not in addition. Costs will only be recovered on approval of your arrangement and once you commence making payments to it. The fees for preparation of the proposal to creditors and calling the meeting for creditors to vote on its approval are called nominees fees, the fees for running the arrangement once approved are called supervisors fees. There are also some expenses incurred in the running of the arrangement such as the registration fee and the statutory insurance that needs to be taken by law, these are called disbursements. For our arrangements, the total of all of these is £3,650 although this may be adjusted by creditors when they vote on whether to accept. No matter what the end total of costs come to, you can be rest assured that these will be taken from the monthly payment we agree with you.
For free, independent advice, you should visit to Money Helper via their