IVA Advice

An IVA is an Individual Voluntary Arangement made between creditors and debtors that can provide a solution for people who find themselves in the situation that they have debts that they cannot repay.

An IVA is a binding legal contract that once made must be honoured. In effect it is a form of insolvency that you can enter into without the stigma and long term consequences of bankruptcy. Just as with bankruptcy an IVA allows you to write off a substantial proportion of your debts, but unlike bankruptcy in by far the most cases it allows you to do this without making you sell your home.

Once an IVA is made, you no longer pay your individual lenders, instead you make a single monthly payment to the IVA manager and then this is distributed to the lenders. Also, the monthly payment will be one that you can afford without having to endure hardship. Typically your repayments will last for five years.

It is not possible to handle an IVA by yourself; you will need to deal through an IVA specialist who will negotiate directly with your lenders. The negotiations will take into consideration your circumstances, how much you can afford to repay reasonably, and how much debt your lenders will agree to write off.

The reason they agree to write off a proportion of your debt is that they would prefer to receive a proportion of what is owed them rather than none at all and that they would receive more money this way than they would if they forced you to become bankrupt.

The negotiations between who is handling your IVA and your lenders are moderated by an insolvency practitioner. This is a legal requirement which ensures that the arrangements are fair to all parties involved.

IVAs are only applicable for people with at least £15,000 of total debts that they cannot afford to repay but they are able to make legally binding reduced payments. As this is a form of insolvency, your credit rating will be damaged and it may take a considerable amount of time before it is repaired. If you feel that an IVA might be suitable to you, then you should professional advice. This is available through the IVA Advisory Centre at http://www.ivaadvisorycentre.co.uk/