An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is only available to people who live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
An IVA is a contract negotiated with your creditors on your behalf. It is an alternative to bankruptcy where you pay back what you can afford in settlement of the debt.
If you have unsecured debts of over £14,999, are in full time employment and are able to make a contribution towards your debts, an IVA could be the most suitable debt solution for you.
Benefits
- All pressure from your creditors is removed
- You will only repay what you can reasonably afford
- All correspondence and queries from your creditors are dealt with on your behalf
- You will make only one monthly repayment
- At the end of the IVA, which is usually a 5 year period, you will be debt free from the debts included within your IVA and ready to start afresh financially
Things you need to know
- Usually, a proportion of any equity in your property will need to be made available to creditors and other significant assets may also be required to be sold
- Your credit rating may be affected for a minimum of 6 years
- You cannot borrow money during the arrangement and may find it difficult to obtain credit thereafter
- A monthly administration fee may be charged and would be taken from your monthly contributions. Any fee charged would be agreed with your creditors and would be fully explained to you before you commit to this debt solution. Please visit our important information page for further details on IVA fees.
For more information on IVAs read our questions and answers.