What is an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement)?
- An IVA is a formal agreement between you and your creditors and allows you to make reduced payments towards the total amount of your unsecured debt.
- Typically a percentage of what you owe your creditors is reduced and generally after 5 years your debt is settled.
- An IVA is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
- Due to its formal nature, an IVA has to be set up by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner (IP). Debt Free Direct have IP’s in house, and we are the UK’s leading provider of IVA’s.
- Unlike other IVA providers we do not take two months IVA fee’s up front.
Call us today and we will review your current situation and provide you with debt advice and details of the appropriate solution to manage your debts, all our advice is confidential and provided without obligation.
If an IVA is the most appropriate solution to manage your debts, we will then discuss the arrangement with you and answer any questions you have, we can also send you an information pack.
Call us now from a landline freephone: 0800 083 1433
from a mobile it may be cheaper to call 01257 476415 or Ask us a Question now
The Benefits of a Debt Free Direct IVA
- An IVA is usually suitable for people with debts over £12,000 and can help you control overwhelming levels of debt
- It’s a legally binding way to reduce debts while avoiding bankruptcy
- We deal with your creditors for you
- You can safeguard your property
- You will pay a single, affordable, monthly payment
- You could be free from your unsecured debt in five years
- Once approved your creditors agree to write off the debt you can’t afford to repay
Like other debt solutions, an IVA is complex and you need to be sure that it’s completely right for you. The best way to find out if this is to talk to us as soon as possible, our debt advice is tailored to you and is provided without obligation.
Q: Does the IVA affect my credit rating?
A: Any plan where you make a reduced payment from what was originally agreed will have an effect on your credit rating. If you are behind on your repayments your credit rating will already have been affected.
Q: What if my circumstances change whilst I am within the IVA?
A: If you have a change in circumstances when you are in the IVA we can review your new circumstances and provide a variation where we will re asses your affordability and re-approach the creditors.
We will look into various options to help you including reducing the payment/ increase payments/ extend the term if necessary or a payment break. We will help you as much as we possibly can.
Q: What documents do you require when setting up an IVA?
A:In order to deal with your creditors on your behalf and to create your IVA proposal we require the following information.
Please note this information is only required when you have decided you want to progress with your IVA and you return your signed IVA pack to us:
- Proof of your income i.e. 3 months wage slips
- Proof of your partners income if you are entering into the IVA together
- Proof of your mortgage / rent agreement
- Proof of all Hire Purchase agreements including any vehicles with a financial agreement
- 3 months Bank Statements
- Up to date creditor balances and references
- Once approved your creditors agree to write off the debt you can’t afford to repay
Q: How quickly can I get my IVA up and running?
A: We advise a minimum of 6 weeks when setting up an IVA. This is due to timescales when dealing with your creditors. We will act as quickly as possible to stop any delay.
Q: Do I need to continue paying my creditors?
A: We would always advise to maintain at least a small token payment to all creditors until advised otherwise by our specialists to ensure creditor communication with you is kept to a minimum.
To prevent further problems arising with lenders, during the period you’re in the IVA you are not allowed to borrow money. i.e. take out a loan or credit card. The IVA normally stays on your credit history for one year after your IVA ends. In some special cases e.g. where very low payments are all that can be afforded, an IVA could run for six years (approximately 5% of cases).
