What is an IVA? – IVA Information and IVA Definition

“IVA” is an abbreviated term for “Individual Voluntary Arrangement”.

An IVA is a Government backed scheme that may help you become debt free in as little as 60 months / 5 years and may lead to the unaffordable part of your debt being written-off.

IVA’s were introduced as a less stringent alternative to Bankruptcy.

An IVA is basically an offer to your Creditors that means you are willing to repay them more than if you opted for bankruptcy. IVA’s are therefore also beneficial to creditors as it means they also collect more of the debt than if you opted for bankruptcy. It is for this reason they are then willing to write-off part of your debt in return.

An IVA is available to residents of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, a PTD (Protected Trust Deed) is the equivalent to an IVA.

If you have debts over £15,000 and can not afford your current debt repayments an IVA could be the best solution for you. To see if you are suitable for an IVA, call now for free IVA information.

The Benefits of an IVA:

When getting personalised IVA information from IVA.tv, you will be advised of some of the benefits of an IVA including:

• Reduce your current monthly outgoings to an affordable level
• Avoid bankruptcy
• It is legally binding on your creditors unlike an informal debt management plan
• Creditors  stop chasing you for payments
• Unaffordable parts of your debt may be written-off
• Interest and charges will be frozen
• Your home can be protected as part of the IVA proposal
• You may be debt free in as few as 60 months

As part of the IVA review we will ensure you are receiving all of the income to which you are entitled. We can also review your outgoings gas, electric, phone bill to find cheaper providers.

By entering into an IVA you will find that a lot of the stress and worry you are currently experiencing will be made more bearable. Call IVA.TV now for further IVA information and to see if you can benefit from an IVA.

IVA Implications:

As part of an IVA you may be required to release equity from your property by way of a remortgage or loan secured on it. Your property will be protected within an IVA but you may be required to release all or part of any equity during the period of the arrangement.

Entering into an IVA may adversely affect your credit rating for up to six years from the date of approval.

Failure to complete the term of an IVA can result in bankruptcy.

An IVA is recorded on an IVA register (The Individual Insolvency register is a Public Record of Bankruptcies and Individual Voluntary Arrangements). Insolvency Gov UK provide useful additional information re the Register.

IVA.TV have produced an article called “Useful IVA Information on the Web”. Please visit our IVA Articles section for further IVA information.

IVA Process:

An IVA proposal has to be put together by an Insolvency Practitioner which summarises your financial position. Through this the Insolvency Practitioner is able to put a case forward to your creditors (people you owe money to) why you are unable to realistically repay your debts in full. The Insolvency Practitioner has to show the creditors that they will receive more money back through an IVA than if you went through a bankruptcy. The creditors then have to vote to accept or reject the IVA at a Creditors Meeting (normally voting is done by post). 75% of voting creditors (by value) have to accept the proposal. Once accepted the Court is informed and normally the Insolvency Practitioner is appointed to supervise your IVA. It is then important that you maintain the payments as agreed.

The reason your creditors accept that part of your debt will be written-off is because they get more back than if you opted for Bankruptcy. They also have to be seen to be acting fairly in the current economic climate. A large part of your debt probably relates to earlier interest and charges and it is therefore unfair for you to suffer more many years to come because of this.

IVA Alternatives:

Before entering an IVA it is important to receive IVA information about the alternatives available (and any Insolvency Practitioner you speak to has to  go through them with you). These include debt management, debt consolidation loans, remortgages, trust deeds (if you live in Scotland) and even Bankruptcy or Sequestration.

As well as IVA Information we can advise on other debt solutions available including:

• Debt Management
• Debt Consolidation Loans
• Bankruptcy
• Protected Trust Deeds