DebtOptions

Consumers considering an IVA usually have many questions about what life might be like during the lifespan of the agreement. There is a great deal of so-called IVA debt advice on the Internet, yet finding useful factual information can sometimes prove difficult. IVAs appear in the wording of the 1986 Insolvency Act Part VII, meaning they are a legal route of out of debt and there are strict rules around how they are arranged and conducted. These rules exist to provide a degree of protection to the consumer aiming to ensure the arrangement presents a genuinely workable rather than drastic solution. In essence, providing an Individual Voluntary Arrangement is properly arranged, it should represent a plan which has every reasonable chance of successful completion.

Creating a More Stable Lifestyle

Consumers may require help to address understandable concerns about what life with an IVA might be like, perhaps worrying whether they would be able to meet their own and any dependents needs. However, in reality the very nature of this solution means there is some recognition of your needs. You won’t see a table here of how much you must pay every month because IVAs are worked out on a case by case basis to make them workable in the consumer’s exact circumstances.

Instead, it should be arranged to ensure you have a very reasonable likelihood of meeting the repayments each month, rather than struggling to keep up with an excessively high amount in relation to your actual income. This is an important point due to the time-scale involved.

Working Towards a Debt Free Future

Although some consumers initially feel they want to repay ‘as much as they possibly can’, again it would not help matters if this involved trying to manage on a tremendously low budget in the long-term. Indeed, your Insolvency Practitioner must be satisfied that your proposal represents a realistic plan and as you can see, this does work in everyone’s best interests.

In the meantime, an IVA should allow you to journey through life with a new, workable repayment plan, without new interest or charges and of course all debts covered are written off at the end, even when it wasn’t possible to fully repay them. This is another important point - in many senses, there is a legal recognition that consumers should not have to remain in debt ‘for all time’ and there must be a way to prevent debts from continually escalating.

Your professional life should also not be impacted, as they are a relatively more private option - since the aim is to allow life to continue in as ‘normal’ a manner as possible. Here the effect could perhaps be described as something of a ‘circular concept’: in order to make regular repayments, you would of course need an arrangement which wouldn’t involve unnecessary disruption to your work life.

Independent IVA Debt Advice is Vital

Finally, you do need reliable advice - an Individual Voluntary Arrangement is not suitable for everyone, but again, in all circumstances there will be an established legal route out of debt that you could follow with appropriate professional support.

Contact the Debt Options team on 0800 234 6605 for confidential, empathetic advice - or click here to send an email. We work with IVAs and all other commonly used legal methods to end problem debts, and are able to give full support no matter which route is most appropriate.