IVA Overview
Introduction
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a formal agreement between someone who owes money (the debtor) and the people he or she owes money to (creditors). An IVA proposal sets out how the debtor is going to repay the creditors, usually over a period of five years.
Due to its formal nature, an IVA has to be set up by a licensed insolvency practitioner such as one of our many approved and licensed practices. Unlike most other insolvency practitioners, our practices do not charge any upfront fees for putting together a client's proposals for an IVA.
If you are considering an IVA with Money Advice Direct, the following is brief explanation of the process.
- After your case has been assessed, a plan letter will be sent to you. This explains the recommended course of action. You will be asked to sign and return a copy of this before we can proceed. Once it has your consent, we will then contact all your creditors to tell them that proposals for an IVA are being prepared and ask them to confirm the amounts you owe.
- We will then draw up a set of proposals. These will include your income and expenditure, creditor details, a short history of how the debts built up and a proposal for repayment (including the monthly repayment amount and the duration of the arrangement). You must read these thoroughly, ask questions if you do not understand anything and then sign them.
- In some circumstances we may send the proposals to your local County Court for approval with a request for an Interim Order. The Interim Order will protect you from any further court action, including bankruptcy proceedings.
- Your creditors will then be sent a copy of the proposals, schedules and all the other details along with the date, time and location of the Creditors Meeting. A representative will chair the Creditors Meeting. You will be expected to attend the meeting so that any points that arise may be clarified without further delay. For an IVA to be approved 75% (in value) of those who vote must agree. Once approved the IVA is legally binding on all creditors, even those who have not voted.
- After the meeting a Chairman's report will be sent to all of the creditors and their agents giving the outcome and detailing the votes. If any modifications were made at the meeting then these will be confirmed at this point.
- Throughout the duration of the IVA a supervisor will oversee the arrangement. You pay one monthly amount into an account held in your name. Annual reviews of your income and expenditure will be undertaken and an annual report sent to you and your creditors. Providing you stick to the terms of your IVA, at the end of the arrangement your debts will be cleared.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) key points: -
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement can give you a level of protection against impatient creditors.
- An individual can put together a plan of action and payment for their creditors to vote upon.
- A bankruptcy order can be cancelled if a voluntary arrangement has been approved
- Individual voluntary arrangements remain on the public register for two years after the date of either completion or termination of the arrangement.
- The debtor must have 75%, of those creditors who vote for an individual voluntary arrangement to get it approved.
- If the individual voluntary arrangement fails then the creditors can apply for the bankruptcy of the individual.
- How to search the Register for records of Bankruptcy Orders and Individual Voluntary Arrangements
NOTE:
If you click on the above link the information on the page will explain how to search the individual insolvency register for records of bankruptcy orders and individual voluntary arrangements. The register contains records of bankruptcy orders and individual voluntary arrangements in England and Wales .
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement should not be confused with any of the following; Creditors Voluntary Liquidation, Members Voluntary Liquidation, Company Voluntary Arrangement, Administration Order - Individual, Bankruptcy - Individual.
For further information on insolvency and IVAs contact Money Advice Direct on FREEPHONE 0800 074 6918.
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