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Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)

How can an IVA help you?
With an individual Voluntary Arrangement you can -

• Write off all of the debt you can't afford
• Clear debts in 60 months
• Stop creditors calling
• Stop all creditor letters
• Consolidate to one lower, affordable monthly payment
• Prevent or stop legal action - including bankruptcy

We can help you to reduce your monthly re-payments today. How?
With an IVA you can reduce your monthly repayments by up to 80% and have some of the debt written off.

An IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) is a legal solution that protects you from Creditor legal action. An IVA is part of the Government Insolvency Act of 1986. If you have over £12,000 of un-secured debts and owe to 3 or more creditors an IVA may be the solution for you.

How much of my debts will be written off?
In our experience, it is possible to write off up to 70% of debt with an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement).

Are there different types of IVA?
Some IVAs are set up on the basis of using a lump sum to make offers to the creditors rather than making monthly payments. This will usually mean raising a lump sum on your assets. Some IVAs are a mixture of both a lump and monthly payment offer. We will assess your case and recommend the best option for you.

How do I arrange an IVA?
An IVA is set up and managed by our Insolvency Practitioner. Call us for free advice and assessment of your debts. If an IVA is the best debt solution we will prepare your case and appoint one of our Insolvency Practitioners to act on your behalf.

How long will it take to arrange an IVA?
Usually an IVA can be set up in six to eight weeks. Our Insolvency Practitioner will draft a proposal to your creditors and invites them to a Creditors Meeting. At this meeting the Insolvency Practitioner will negotiate on your behalf with your creditors, who will vote on whether to accept or reject the IVA proposal.

Often creditors send their vote and don't actually come to the meeting, but it is vital that all your creditors are contacted. If they have no notice of the meeting they do not have to be bound by the terms of the IVA and can pursue you for their debt seperately.

What happens at the Creditors Meeting?
If 75% of your creditors 'by value' who actually vote agree to the IVA, then the rest are bound by the IVA, even if they voted against it or did not vote at all. 'By Value' means the creditors to whom you owe 75% worth of debt, not the number of creditors you have.

If my proposal is accepted, what happens next?
Once the IVA is agreed our Insolvency Practitioner will supervise the arrangement and make sure things run smoothly. However we will also take an interest in the case and will keep you up to date at all times on the progress of your IVA. An IVA can help you avoid having to declare bankruptcy, but you need to keep making the payments that have been agreed. It is therefore very important that we know the true extent on your debts - we need you to be completely honest with us about your financial circumstances, that way we can do our best for you and get the right settlement for you.

My Creditors are taking me to Court
Once the Insolvency Practitioner has prepared your proposal, an application can be made to the County Court for an Interim Order. This stops your creditors from starting bankruptcy proceedings against you. It also stops any other enforcement action without the court's permission whilst the Interim Order is in force. This can be done in a week.

Are there any disadvantages to Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)?

Individual Voluntary Arrangements do have some disadvantages -

• If you do not keep up payments for the entire arrangement you will most likely be made bankrupt
• If you do no keep up with the contractual loan or debt repayments your credit rating will be affected.
• If you are a homeowner you may have to re-mortgage your property

IVA Help and Debt Advice

Spencer Hayes provides a completely free and impartial debt advice service. All of our counsellors and fully qualified and follow Law Society and FSA guidelines to give the best advice at all times. We are authorised to set up and manage IVAs from start to finish.

To find out if you qualify for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement call our debt helpline on 0800 0284422 - lines open 9am - 9pm 7 days a week.

More information about Individual Voluntary Arrangements

Apply for an IVA

IVA Questions & Answers

IVA Qualifying Criteria

How do Individual Voluntary Arrangements work?

Self Employed IVA

Joint IVAs