IVA Questions and Answers

Upon successful completion of you IVA the unsecured debts in your IVA will be written off. A record of your IVA will be held on your credit file for up to six years from approval of your IVA, which will affect your credit rating and your ability to obtain credit in the future.

The Insolvency Practitioner helps you draft a proposal for the IVA and distributes it to all your creditors. The creditors will want to calculate whether the offer you put forward is reasonable and more than they would receive if you were to declare yourself bankrupt. They will look at the assets you have for example your house and car, and when you took out the credit.

At the meeting of creditors at least 75% in value of the voting creditors must accept your proposal. If this percentage is not reached, your proposal will be rejected. As a result your debts may increase with added interest, your creditors can continue contacting you and they are able to take legal action against you to recover the debt.

There are still options for you if your IVA was rejected because it did not receive the support of at least 75% of your creditors. You can consider evaluating your proposal and resubmitting it, if your creditors had specific reasons for rejecting the first offer.

A debt management plan is another option. It allows you to repay your debts using the surplus income you have available. There are, however, no guarantees that charges and interest will be stopped as it is not a legally binding Agreement and it is difficult to know how long it will take to pay the debt back.

Bankruptcy could also be another option, however requires serious consideration. It can have an effect on your job and your assets such as your home and car could be at risk. Your name also appears in your local paper saying that you are bankrupt.

A further option is an informal Agreement. You would make a repayment offer on a pro-rata basis and work with your creditors yourself. As the title suggests it is an informal Agreement and does not provide you with legal protection. Creditors may also reject your offer of payment.

When your IVA has been accepted you normally have 30 days to make your first payment and you must continue to make payments each month, as failure to do this can result in the termination of your IVA.

You must decide on a date that is best for you to make the monthly payment. If you are paying by standing order you can arrange the payment date a couple of days after you get paid to avoid the risk of charges and overspending.

When your first payment has been made, you are heading in the right direction to say goodbye to your debts.

A creditor will sometimes request modifications, or changes, to your proposal, for example if they believe you can afford to pay more money into the Agreement.

You do not have to accept the modification; but if you do not then there is a risk of the IVA being rejected.If you accept the modifications they become part of your IVA and you must adhere to them.

A modification could be to replace your car with a less expensive one, or that you remortgage your property. Aggrieved creditors may decide to pursue a charging order against your home, which secures their debt. This is less likely to happen if you start the process as early as possible and offer a realistic repayment that you can sustain. You should take formal advice if you receive notice that your creditors intend to do this.

When your IVA has been accepted, normally you will be asked to set up a standing order to make your monthly payments. You should set the payment date for when it is most convenient for you.

The agreed monthly payment will have been decided at the meeting of creditors and you must make that payment each month on time. As it is a standing order you alone have control over it so it is your responsibility to ensure that it is set up for the correct amount and date.

If you do not maintain your agreed payments then there is a risk your IVA will fail.

If it is stated in the IVA proposal or in the modifications that you are to release assets, then it must be done.

If the asset is an endowment that is not linked to a property or a similar financial policy it is advised for you to contact the provider. You need to contact your Supervisor once the money has been released as it will need to be paid into the Agreement.

To release the equity in your house it may have been stated that you need to remortgage or sell your property. It may be possible for you to do this near the end of your Agreement but you need to discuss this with your Supervisor first.

When you first contacted our helpline all your available options would have been considered when you provided your income and expenditure details. The options discussed will have included debt management plans, informal Agreements, re-mortgaging & secured loans, bankruptcy and IVAs. Making sure that you receive clear and understandable advice is essential. This website gives further information on all of these options. If it is recommended that you talk to an Insolvency Practitioner about an IVA they must again discuss the all the options to ensure the most appropriate solution is provided for your situation.

An IVA will only be suggested for you if the Insolvency Practitioner believes it is the best option for you, taking into account your situation and the money available after you have paid your essential household costs.

Other companies stating that they have a better solution may not always have the full information required to make an appropriate decision, or be able to consider the full range of options.

If you know that your monthly payment is going to be late then you must inform your Supervisor as soon as possible, explain why it will be late and when you can make the payment.

If missing a payment is to be a recurring event, and you are unable to repay your arrears, then there is a chance that your IVA will fail. If it is a one off situation, however, and you can provide documentation supporting your reason then your IVA may be unaffected.

When your IVA has been accepted at the meeting of creditors, a chairman’s report with the details of the meeting will be sent to your creditors. As you are in a legally binding Agreement you are now protected from further action being taken against you.

If you receive phone calls from your creditors simply inform them that you are in an IVA. Contact your Supervisor and pass on the details of the creditor that is still contacting you and they will get in touch with them and sort things out. The same applies if you receive letters to chase you for payment - forward them on to your supervisor and they will get in touch with the creditor.

When you agreed to the terms and conditions of the Agreement you agreed to make your monthly payments on time. If you then miss a payment you are breaking the terms of the Agreement and risk the future of your IVA.

There are of course situations that cannot be avoided, for example, if your car needs repairing or you are sick and unable to work. If this does happen then you must inform your Supervisor immediately and remember to retain any receipts and doctors’ notes as these will be needed.

There is a clause in most IVAs which states that if more than two payments towards the IVA are missed then the Agreement can fail.

If the payments for your IVA have become unaffordable for you then you need to contact your Supervisor, who will ask you to complete another income and expenditure form. It might be that they have to hold a further creditors meeting to consider a reduction in your contributions.

Most payments to an IVA are via standing orders, so you need to ensure that they are set up correctly as you are the only one able to amend it. You need to be sure that there are sufficient funds in your account and it might be a good idea to make the payment date a couple of days after you get paid so you know the money will be in there and to reduce the risk of overspending.

As soon as you notice the payment has not been made you must contact your bank or building society and also your IVA Supervisor to explain the situation. You should then make the payment as soon as possible.

If you fail to abide by the terms and conditions you agreed to when your IVA was accepted then you are in breach of the IVA and the IVA Supervisor will issue you with a ‘Notice of Breach’.

You will receive an explanation of the breach and how to resolve it, usually giving one month. You will be required to explain how you are going to do this and why the breach occurred in the first place.

The IVA could fail if the breach cannot be rectified.

Your creditors have to agree to it, but you may be able to finish or settle your IVA early with a lump sum.

At your original creditors meeting, your creditors agreed to receive a certain percentage of your debt to them. If you propose an alternative they will take into consideration the amount that they would receive if the IVA continued and the amount you are now offering to pay.

Your IVA Supervisor will make the offer to the creditors and hold a variation meeting. Before this can be arranged you will need to inform your Supervisor of the amount you wish to offer and where it came from.

A contribution by a third party

If the funds become available to you from a third party, for example a friend or family member. You will need to send your Supervisor documentation of how you received the funds.

Sale of property

House prices can change and as a result during the five year Agreement there maybe enough equity in your house to offer a full and final settlement by way of sale.

Re-mortgage

This is similar to the selling of your property. The equity released when you re-mortgage your house will be the offer for your full and final settlement. You must take specialist advice if you decide to go ahead with this, and be positive that you can afford the repayments along with your household expenses.

Another meeting needs to be held by your creditors to consent to your IVA being settled early. Your Supervisor will put forward a proposal stating the reason why you want to settle the IVA early and provide the details of your offer.

If the creditors agree to the offer, once funds are received, a time limit of typically 3 months is given for the money to be paid to the creditors, and then the IVA will be complete.

No one can say what is going to happen in the future, and when the IVA was agreed it was based on the circumstances at that time.

If changes happen for the worse for example if you lose your job, then this will have an impact on your payments. If this happens you need to contact your Supervisor and explain the situation and they will be able to advise you on what will happen.

A change in circumstances doesn’t always mean something bad; you may get a promotion at work and be able to afford to pay more each month into the IVA. Again if this happens you need to contact your supervisor.

For the variation meeting a new proposal will need to be drafted, stating the reason for the meeting and the changes to your original proposal, which you will need to agree with and sign. If you are happy with the proposal it will be sent to your creditors for them to consider.

The meeting will have the same rules as the first one, there needs to be at least 75% of voting creditors by value in support of the proposal.

If your creditors vote to accept your revised proposal, a chairman’s report containing details of the meeting will be sent to you and your creditors. There will be new terms and conditions with the report that you must adhere to.

If your creditors vote to reject the proposal, your Agreement will revert back to its original terms. You must continue to pay your monthly contributions unless you have defaulted on your original IVA.

If the meeting was held because you had defaulted in your original IVA and you are unable to make the monthly payments, then you would need to contact your Supervisor to see what is going to happen.

When you have made your last IVA payment your IVA will come to an end, assuming there are no issues or funds outstanding.

Steps need to be completed before your certificate of completion can be issued. Your Supervisor will need to ensure all payments have cleared, any funds that need to be released from assets have been paid in and that all dividends to your creditors have been made. The average time it takes for all this to be completed is 3 months.

When the final dividends have been made to your creditors and the IVA is completed you will receive a certificate of completion. It will prove that your IVA has been completed successfully and creditors cannot contact you for money.

You will also receive a summary of the money you paid in to your IVA, how it was distributed between your creditors and covered the fees for your IVA.

The Insolvency Service will update their records to show that you have completed your IVA successfully, and you should ask the credit reference agencies to update your file.

You should check the list of your creditors very carefully when you receive your proposal to make sure you’ve included all of your debts. After the IVA has been approved, if you realise that you have missed a creditor from the IVA, you should contact your Supervisor immediately as the creditor might be able to be included. This depends on several things, including the size of the debt you missed out, whether you have been using the credit facility since the IVA was approved and the reason why the debt was missed. Bear in mind that some of your debts may be sold to other companies after your IVA is approved, so when you speak to your Supervisor you may discover that the creditor was included after all.

If the debt is small and was simply missed by mistake, the creditor may be included without difficulty.

If the debt is large and its inclusion would affect the dividend to creditors, or if it amounts to more than 10% of your total debts, it will be necessary to call another creditors meeting and there is a risk the IVA could fail.

Remember, you are not permitted to use or obtain credit facilities without permission while you are in an IVA. Doing so is a breach of your Agreement and may lead to its failure. Debts incurred after your IVA is approved cannot therefore be included.

In an IVA the creditors will be paid a dividend, or percentage of the debt they are owed, at varying points during the Agreement.

Your Supervisor distributes funds between the creditors once the Nominees and Supervisors fees have been paid. The monthly payments you make over the course of the Agreement get divided between your creditors so that they all receive the same proportion of the money owed to them.

Your creditors or the Insolvency Practitioner can petition for your bankruptcy if your IVA fails.

You may also petition for your own bankruptcy, if you believe this is your best option. Your assets and your job could both be at risk in bankruptcy and you need to seek advice to ensure you are making the right decision.

Other options are available to you, for example a debt management plan or an informal Agreement between you and your creditors and you should take advice and research the options carefully if you are given the choice.

There are many different reasons why an IVA could fail, payments may not be made or a change in circumstance occur which means there is no money available to pay into the Agreement.

If you do experience any problems during your IVA you must inform your Supervisor as they will be able to advise you on the best solution for that particular circumstance. It may be that the Agreement can continue under different terms, and a variation meeting is required.

Yes interest is accrued on the money you put into your IVA and it is added to the amount that is paid back to your creditors.

When the IVA has been completed you will be issued with a certificate of completion, it will also be sent to your creditors so they know that the IVA has been completed and the debt to them has been satisfied.

Your Insolvency Practitioner will inform the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the Court Service that your IVA has been completed. Your credit report will show that you have completed your IVA successfully.

An IVA can last up to five years but it will show on your Credit Report for six, so if your Agreement lasts for five years, then your credit report will show that you have been in an IVA for a year after it has been completed.

You will receive a statement showing all the transactions that have been made, your payments into the IVA and the dividends paid to your creditors.