Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

In helping you to get an IVA, your insolvency practitioner (IP) will act as Nominee and he/she is allowed to draw a Nominee’s fee for the work entailed. Although this fee will be agreed with you, your creditors have the final say if they agree to it when they consider your IVA proposal. The fee is usually fixed and paid from realisations (the money you pay) in your IVA.

The Nominee fee is in relation to the work carried out by the IP in having to assess your financial situation and understanding all available options in deciding that an IVA is a suitable option for you. Once the IP has all the relevant information, they will prepare a proposal ready to present to your creditors to allow them to consider the IVA.

When approved, the IP then becomes the Supervisor of your IVA. Their role as a supervisor is to monitor and collect your contributions, and conduct regular reviews of your income and expenditure. Your Supervisor can seek to change or terminate the arrangement if appropriate, however ultimately, it is usual that the Supervisor will eventually conclude your IVA.

Supervisors’ fees are calculated on a monthly basis, normally as a percentage of realisations (the money you pay). This is based on the assumption that the arrangement runs for its full term and that you’ve cooperated fully. The arrangement does not have to be varied and the creditors don’t increase the amount of supervision needed in your original proposals. All of this will be discussed with you.

As well as fees, your insolvency practitioner will incur disbursements. These are the costs and expenses incurred during the setting up and administering of your IVA. Examples of disbursements are Bond (case specific insurance), postage costs, registration of the IVA and software maintenance. Some disbursements are payable in priority to fees and are always fully disclosed in your IVA proposal. These are agreed with your creditors and are drawn from the IVA.

At the meeting, creditors will consider all fees and disbursements before agreeing on the terms of them. Full disclosure will be given to you before your IVA is approved to make sure you are happy with the outcome.

Any changes in your circumstances during your IVA must be reported/communicated to your IVA supervisor who will review your situation.

Debts not allowed in an IVA include, but are not limited to the following:

Any child maintenance arrears

Mortgage and mortgage arrears

Loans that are secured

If you still own a vehicle on car finance the finance can’t be included

Any court fines

Student loans

An IVA will show on your credit file for six years. Your credit score may go down as a result of the IVA and may impact your ability to borrow additional credit.

All creditors whose debts are included in your IVA have to stop all collection & contact actions.

You can cancel your IVA but you should consider speaking to your IP first because this is not without the possibility of other recovery actions, such as bankruptcy. Your IVA is a legally binding contract and your IP will work with you should you have a change in circumstances. Your IP does have the discretion to consider reducing your payments or even allowing a payment break.

If your IP is not able to assist you then they will normally recommend your IVA is cancelled and suggest other ways to help deal with your debts.

We need proof to show your creditors that your outgoings are factual and evidence-based.

Your income and expenditure are assessed by us as a whole, therefore payments may not increase if your outgoings have also increased.