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Individual Voluntary Arrangements Northern Ireland

What is an IVA?

An IVA or the full term Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a debt solution for people in Northern Ireland who have large amounts of debt, usually over £15000, and cant keep up with their debt repayments. It is a government legislation set up for people who let their debts spiral out of control and can no longer stay on top of it. It means you can avoid bankruptcy and your home and job are not at risk.

What happens in an IVA?

An IVA is a legal agreement between you and your creditors. You agree to pay your debt back to them monthly at a level you can afford and in turn they will reduce your debts. The IVA monthly payments usually last for 5 years (60 months) and after that you are totally debt free. The most important thing to us is to ensure that you have enough money to live on and continue your life as normal as you can. When you contact us we will run through an income and expenditure report with you and work out if it is financially possible to propose an IVA. If an IVA is not the appropriate solution for you we can offer you other debt management solutions. You can find this out yourself right now by either taking our Quick Debt Test or Filling out our Debt Calculator to see what money you have left at the end of the month.

An Insolvency Practitioner (us) is needed to set up and negotiate the IVA payments and debt reduction with the creditors. When your IVA proposal has been drawn up, agreed and signed by you, our Insolvency Practitioner will have a meeting with your creditors and propose your IVA to them. If the IVA is approved by 75% of your creditors, by debt value, then it is a success and we will set up your IVA and you will be on your way to being debt free. The IVA may take 4 to 6 weeks to be set up from initial contact so if you are thinking of entering into an IVA contact us now and get the ball rolling.

Every IVA is different, depending on your individual circumstances such as employment status, income and expenditure, the amount of unsecured debts and number of creditors you have. Repayments to your creditors are established by taking into consideration all these factors and coming to a legally binding agreement on the monthly repayments.

Benefits of an IVA

  • 1 easily affordable monthly payment based on your income and expenses
  • Unlike some of our competitors, we do not charge any Upfront Fees, saving you £100s
  • An IVA offers you protection from creditors
  • Creditor pressure stopped as creditors must deal with us
  • Can be complete in as little as 1 year if you can offer a lump sum payment
  • All interest frozen immediately
  • Suitable for tenants or homeowners, individuals or couples, and even business owners
  • We can setup an IVA in as little as 4 weeks

Disadvantages of an IVA

  • If you are a homeowner with equity in your property you may be required to introduce part of your share of this equity in the final year of the arrangement. A remortgage may be restricted and on less favourable terms. If you can’t get a remortgage your arrangement can be extended for up to another year.
  • If your circumstances change, and your insolvency practitioner can’t get creditors to accept amended terms, the IVA is likely to fail. You will still owe your creditors the full amount of what you owed them at the start, less whatever has been paid to them under your IVA.
  • If your IVA fails, your creditors may request that you be made bankrupt. This will always be discussed before your arrangement commences.
  • Your credit rating may be impacted for up to six years from the commencement of your IVA.
NOTE: In an IVA you will have an agreed budget for your living costs. There are allowances for this in the agreement. These expenses will be mostly based in what you currently have to pay out each month. You should declare all normal monthly expenses to your creditors so they understand your situation more clearly. There may be some restriction on some expenditure items, such as mobile phone for example.

Can I apply for an IVA?

You can apply for an IVA if…

  • You have debts over £15,000
  • You have 2 or more creditors (people you owe money to).
  • You have a surplus income each month (after all your essential living expenses), excluding any creditor payments (your new payment will include all your unsecured creditors)
  • You are struggling with your Debts

What information do you need for my IVA Application?

To apply for an IVA we need you to provide us information on...

  1. A full list of all of your creditors you owe money too and the current debt levels. Including all store cards, loans, HP agreements, catalogue debts, unpaid utility bills etc.
  2. Any assets that you own including your house, cars, policies etc.
  3. A breakdown of your monthly household bills and income and expenditure.

You do not need to contact your creditors to tell them that you are entering or applying for an IVA, we will take care of all creditor contact from the time you contact us. Once your IVA is agreed you will have no more contact from your creditors.

Contact Debt Advice Northern Ireland for IVA Help and Advice

Get in touch with Debt Advice Northern Ireland now and we will be able to help you with your debt problems and advise you on what Debt Solutions are available to you. All our advice is FREE so you are under no obligation by giving us a call. Call us now on 0800 043 0550 or visit our Contact Page to see the various ways to get in touch with us. Alternatively you can Chat Online to one of our Debt Advisors now or take our Debt Calculator to figure out how much of your debt you could be paying back.

In the UK, consumer credit activities are covered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland, Group Licence number G/900011
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debtadvicenorthernireland.co.uk is owned by McCambridge Duffy, who provide free debt advice on a variety of debt solutions. A fee is only payable where further services are requested. All fees will be explained in detail and discussed prior to commencement of any service or debt repayment plan. In the IVA our fees are included in your monthly payment to your creditors so you will not have to pay anymore than you can afford.  More suitable debt solutions may be offered which may result in different fees applying and we will discuss those with you during your initial consultation. Creditors may still contact you with promotional material or to fulfil contractual obligations to you but they should deal with us in all aspects relating to the outstanding debts.

Acceptance of your IVA cannot be guaranteed but we will do our best. You must meet certain criteria which will be discussed with our advisors. Where we put a client forward for an IVA we believe they have an excellent chance of being accepted. Debts will only be written off where a client has made an agreed payment for a fixed period. In return the creditors agree to write off the remaining balance. Typically, our clients average debt write off is between 60-70% of the debt. What debt you have written off will depend on your individual circumstances and is subject to creditor approval and completion of the IVA. Your credit rating may be impacted for up to six years from the commencement of you IVA. Homeowners may be required to introduce equity if available.

Phonecalls: Calls from a landline are normally free. Please consult your provider if you are unsure. Calls from a mobile may be subject to charges. If you get charged just ask us to call you back for free.