IVA - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, although we recommend that you contact us as soon as possible. We would apply for an "Interim Order" to the court, which is a request to suspend all legal action until the result the creditors meeting is known.

Yes. Creditors can accept a lump sum to bring the arrangement to an early conclusion if you can show that you are paying as much as you can afford. What you are not allowed to do is borrow money to pay into the IVA.

Once you have successfully completed your IVA your will be debt free. You will receive a certificate of completion from your Insolvency Practitioner, and your credit file will be show your IVA as successfully completed. You will be able to move forward with you life without the weight of your debt.

It depends on the circumstances of when you got into debt and when you started living together with your partner as a single household. If you've been living together for many years, yet all the debts are in your name, the creditors would conclude that your partner has received benefit from the debt-funded expenditure by virtue of having lived together with you. In this situation, your partner's income would be taken into account in the domestic budget, and surplus household income would be expected to be contributed to the IVA. If, however, your relationship with your partner is recent and your debts had been incurred before you moved in together, then it would be reasonable for your partner's share of the money left over after paying the bills to be left with them.

If you fall into difficulty and are unable to make the payments to your IVA, it is possible to agree a payment holiday with your creditors via ourselves. The months which you miss will normally be added to the end of the agreement.
If during the period of your IVA, your circumstances change for the worse, perhaps you change your job and earn less money, you may find that you cannot maintain the agreed payments. In these circumstances, we can ask your creditors to vary the terms of your IVA. If up until that time, you have maintained your payments without problem, your creditors may be mindful to accept such changes.

Note, if you are unable to re-start your payments at all, it is likely that the IVA will fail. Your creditors will then be able to take other action against you and alternative arrangements must be made.

No. There is no agreement in place with the creditors until the IVA proposal has been formally approved. They have the right to add charges and allow interest to accrue, as the IVA proposal may not be accepted. Interest and charges will cease to increase from the date the IVA is accepted by your creditors.