The IVA Process Explained

If you are eligible for an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement) and if you intend to carry out IVA proceedings, it is not recommended that you take any action until a full assessment of your finances and financial situation has been carried out. This can be carried out via telephone by your insolvency practitioner, and can take no more than 15 minutes. For simplicity, it is advisable to have paperwork concerning your various debts and creditors to hand while this takes place.

Once your assessment has been completed, a proposal and copy of the completed assessment are sent to you to sign off. This pre IVA pack will also contain a request for various documents: photographic ID, utility bill, signed authority to act, last 3 months wage slips, last 4 months bank statements, photocopy of mortgage statement or rental agreement, and photocopies of most recent creditor correspondence.

Once this pack is completed and returned you IVA case will go before an insolvency practitioner panel. A meeting of your creditors will be arranged and held with your insolvency practitioner. This agent then puts forth your case in the hope of convincing your lenders to agree to the terms of the IVA. There is of course a chance that your creditors will not agree the terms. Should this worst case scenario materialise, there is no cause for concern because a second opportunity to put forth your IVA case can be carried out with an improved proposal.

It is unusual for an insolvency practitioner to take on your case without confidence of success, so if the meeting is arranged, there is a high likelihood that the IVA will be agreed.