What is an IVA?
This section of the website explains "what is an IVA?"
We receive a lot of calls and emails from the public asking; "What is an IVA?".
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA is a formal agreement between you and your creditors where you will come to an arrangement with people you owe money to, to make reduced payments towards the total amount of your debt in order to pay off a percentage of what you owe then generally after 5 years your debt is classed as settled.
Due to its formal nature, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA has to be set up by a licensed professional.
Unlike advice sector firms our teams do not charge any upfront fees for putting together a client's proposals for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA. The Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA team at Money Advice Direct are often surprised to see that few people actually know that the option of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA even exists. Most Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA cases are based around one, affordable, monthly, payment, over a period of 60 months.
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA proposal has to be prepared by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner (IP) who then presents it to creditors at a creditors meeting. In the case of a consumer Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA it is unusual for any creditors or their representatives to attend the creditors meeting as most prefer to vote by fax or by post.
The rules of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA state that providing 75% (in value terms) of those that have voted, vote to accept the proposals (with or without modifications) then the Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA is agreed and becomes legally binding on all other parties whether they voted or not.
It is the debtor's responsibility to pay the agreed payments to the IP who will then ensure that these payments are distributed to all creditors on a pro-rata basis in accordance with terms and until the successful completion of the Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA. It is in the debtors own interest to maintain their payments as failure to pay will almost certainly result in the failure of the Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA.
Upon the successful completion of the Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA the debtor will be considered debt free even though they may not have actually paid off all of their debts in full.
It is worth noting that if you do enter into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA with your creditors and you have an endowment policy linked to your mortgage then you may be expected to cash it in and pay the proceeds into the arrangement. Likewise, if your property has a reasonable amount of equity then it is likely that a some of it will have to be released at sometime during the arrangement (usually the end), so it can be paid to creditors.
If you would like more information you can contact Money Advice Direct 0800 074 6918 or fill in our Individual Voluntary Arrangement - IVA application form by clicking here If you wish to discuss the IVA definition and understand how it can help you please complete the following form or telephone freephone 0800 074 6918.
IVA Guide
- What does it mean if my IVA is not approved?
- What are my options if my IVA is not approved?
- My IVA has been approved, what do I do next?
- My IVA has been approved subject to modification – what does this mean?
- How do I make my IVA contributions?
- My IVA proposal included the provision that I had to sell/realise other assets – what do I need to do?
- I am receiving letters and emails from companies offering me a better solution than an IVA - what are these solutions?
- What do I do if my monthly IVA contribution will be late?
- How do I deal with my creditors once I’m in an IVA?
- How do I deal with additional creditors now that the IVA has been approved?
- What happens if I miss an IVA payment?
- The bank has not transferred my IVA payment - what do I do?
- What happens if I do not inform my IVA supervisor that I can’t make the contribution?
- I'm struggling to make the monthly IVA payment what should I do?
- I've received a 'Notice of Breach' from my IVA supervisor - what does this mean?
- What happens if I’ve missed IVA payments or received a notice of breach and there is no solution?
- Is it possible to finish or settle my IVA early?
- How do I settle my IVA early?
- What is the process involved when offering an early IVA settlement?
- Why would I vary the terms of my IVA?
- What does the IVA variation process involve?
- What happens when the IVA variation process has been approved by creditors?
- What happens when the IVA variation process has been rejected by creditors?
- How does an IVA end?
- Will I receive any correspondence when my IVA has completed?
- If one of my debts has been excluded from the IVA, am I liable to pay the debt after the IVA has completed?
- When does a creditor debt claim have to be received by when completing an IVA?
- What happens if any additional debt claims is received during the IVA closure process?
- How do my creditors get their money in an IVA and what are the IVA dividends?
- Does the money in my IVA account earn interest and if so where does that interest go to?
- Do I get a report or certificate stating the IVA has been completed?
- How does an IVA fail?
- What is the effect of IVA failure or an IVA failing?
- What happens after an IVA fails?
- What are the costs of an IVA?
- Who pays for my IVA?
- What is the IVA process?
- Who takes care of my creditors?
- Will an IVA make me debt free?
- How an IVA benefits my creditors
- Lifestyle changes during an IVA
- Advice on living with an IVA
- Will creditors contact me?
- Will I my IVA fail?
- Completing an IVA
- Getting credit after an IVA
- Can an IVA make me debt free?
- How to boost my credit rating after an IVA?
- IVA vs debt management
- IVA vs bankruptcy
- IVA vs debt consolidation
- IVA vs administration orders
- IVA pros and cons
- IVA definition
- What is an IVA?
- Why choose an IVA?
- Who is suitable for an IVA?
- IVA benefits
- IVA stages
- False IVA adverts
- IVA compared to Bankruptcy
- IVA compared to debt management
- IVA compared to debt consolidation
- IVA compared to administration orders
- How the IVA got so popular and famous
- Things you should know and do before you start an IVA
- Will an IVA make creditor phone calls stop?
IVA's
The IVA Guide
Money Advice Direct has put together an IVA Guide based on the enquiries and questions that we receive at our helpline offices.
In the guide we cover such subjects as IVA Approval, early settlment of your IVA, missed IVA payments, IVA failure, additional debt claims and much more.
[click here for IVA Guide]
What is an IVA?
The IVA is an extremely powerful tool enabling you to clear your debt and return to a clean financial bill of health. Visit Money Advice Direct's Guide to Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs).
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DANGER
Due to the tremendous demand for debt consolidation services the United Kingdom is now overloaded with debt management companies that contain misleading information. [more...]