Helping You Take Back Control Of Your Financial Future.

We have tried to make paying your IVA as easy as possible. You can set your payments up directly through your client portal. Ensure that you head to “manage my payments”, here you can set your direct debit and update your card details, this ensures that your IVA payments are always successful.

If you do decide to make payments via standing order, please make sure you quote your IVA reference so that your payment can be allocated to your IVA account right away.

Payments can be made, monthly, fortnightly weekly, last working day of the month, last Friday of the month – whatever makes things easier for you as a client is what we want.

The fees charged in your IVA are documented and agreed at the outset of your IVA and we have no influence on these. The fees in an IVA are referred to as the Nominee Fee, Supervisory Fee, and related expenses connected with the arrangement are sometimes called ‘disbursements’. Fees are charged and administered by your Insolvency Practitioner who acts as Supervisor of the IVA and we do not directly charge any additional costs to your IVA.

Fees will be deducted from your IVA payment by your IVA Supervisor or funds from any 3rd party fund or other assets recovered and contributed to your arrangement. The terms relating to costs and fees is set out within your IVA document and if you would like a copy of these you can contact us for this at any time.

The term of an IVA is a long time, and we all know a lot can change, so it is important that we ensure the IVA remains affordable. Each year your Supervisor needs to complete a review of your income and expenditure and report to creditors on the progress of your IVA. You will also receive a copy of the report. This review forms an integral part of the IVA and failure to comply is considered a breach of your obligations.

The review is simple to complete and can be done via your client portal. We will send you an email 2 months prior to the anniversary date of your IVA to advise of the review and what’s documents are needed – normally this is just proof of income, a bank statement, and any changes to your expenditure.

Once uploaded into the portal this information will be reviewed by the team and if any changes need to be made, they will contact you to discuss.

Your annual report will be issued within two months of the anniversary date of the approval of your IVA. The report will help you understand how the IVA is progressing and whether any issues need attention, so it is important you read the reports. These will be uploaded to your client portal.

Depending on your circumstances we may be able to offer a short-term payment break to give you time to find a new job and get back to a point where you can afford monthly contributions.

If you are made redundant, depending on the amount of redundancy payment received, you may be required to pay a portion into your IVA. We will let you know what you need to do, as there are specific requirements around redundancy payments – please get in touch with one of our team and we will talk you through it.

We understand that situations may change during the IVA – don’t worry! We’re here to help and ensure things are updated correctly, it is really important that your IVA reflects your current circumstances.

A change in circumstances can be anything from moving house to welcoming an addition to your family, starting a new job to becoming unemployed, a bereavement or illness. We are here to help you navigate these circumstances within the IVA for the best chance of success.

Let us know right away if your circumstances are expected to change, this will ensure we can provide you with appropriate advice in respect of your ongoing payments. The sooner we know, the sooner we can assist. The important thing to remember is that we are here to help you.

You can update your income and expenditure by logging into your client portal, and we will review your circumstances to see what help we can offer. Depending on whether your change in circumstances is short term or long term there are different options available.

We will also complete a financial review of your situation annually as per the conditions of your IVA to make sure your contributions remain affordable for you.

There are several options available to address arrears that occur because of unexpected circumstances; we will work with you to find the right solution to keep your IVA on track.

If you miss the equivalent of 3 months payments, you will be in breach of the terms of the IVA, and your IVA is at risk of failing if we do not rectify the situation. It is therefore really important that you contact us if you feel that you are unable to make a payment to your IVA, to prevent arrears from accruing.

If you already have arrears and want to prevent your IVA from falling into breach and failing, we can put a payment plan in place with you – this can be to add a small amount on top of your monthly contributions so you catch up your payments, or they can be added to the end of the IVA.

If your circumstances have changed and you are not able to afford your payments in the long term, we will need to complete an income and expenditure to assess your affordability, which you can do via your client portal. If it is just a short-term issue, we may be able to use payment breaks to help you.

It is important you speak to us and cooperate with any requests for information us so we can agree the best way forward.

It is always nice to have some extra money, but whilst subject to an IVA it is important to notify the Supervisor if this happens, within 14 days of receipt of the money.

If you get a bonus or commission payment from work, we need to see the payslip to advise if you’re due to pay anything extra into the IVA, we will always use the amount you receive after tax and national insurance to calculate the amount due into the IVA.

You are entitled to retain 10% on top of the net income figure we have included in your income and expenditure, anything above that is split 50/50 between you and your IVA.

For example, your monthly take home pay is usually £1,000. Under the terms of your IVA, you can earn up to £1,100 per month before anything is due into your IVA. If you receive a bonus and your net income is £1,700.00, you will need to pay in 50% of the amount received over £1,100 – so in this example you would need to pay in £300 into your IVA. This still means that you are £400 better off that month (the first £100 and then your 50% share)

Where you have received a regular increase in salary, your income and expenditure would be reviewed to determine your affordability level moving forwards using the new monthly net figure. Your expenditure is taken into account and where there is an increase in your monthly disposable income (the amount left over from your income after all expenses are paid) then 50% of this will be due into the IVA by an increase in future monthly contributions.

For example, you are currently paying £100.00 into the IVA but receive a pay rise. After the review your new disposable income is showing as £250.00 which is £150 more disposable income than you had before. Your new IVA payment will be your existing payment of £100 plus 50% of the increase in disposable income.

250.00 – 100.00 / 2 = 75.00 + 100.00 = £175.00 New IVA payment

A windfall (or “After-acquired Property” as it may be known within your proposal document) is typically when you receive or become entitled to an asset during your IVA, rather than before it – like a lottery win or an inheritance.

You are entitled to keep the first £500 but the remaining amount must be paid into the IVA. This is an obligation under the terms of the IVA therefore failure to comply will result in a breach of the IVA, which

may lead to its failure if left unresolved. It is important to let us know as soon as you become aware you will be in receipt of an asset or windfall.

It is also important to understand that payment of this money into your IVA may not bring a reduction to the IVA’s duration or your required monthly payments, unless you have enough to pay your IVA in full – this involves repayment of all of your debts in full plus your IVA fees. You may wish to make a request to the Supervisor to keep some of the funds if so, you will need to explain the reason and provide any relevant supporting documentation for consideration. It is likely that such a request will require creditor approval.

In short, the answer is yes you can, but this needs to be authorised by the Supervisor of your IVA because you’re obtaining further credit.

In order for your Supervisor to consider your request, you will need to provide an agreement in principle showing the term and repayment amount, a quote for the insurance and tax on the car as well as documents for an income and expenditure review.

Affordability will then be established to make sure you can maintain your IVA payments as well as the car finance. In some situations we might need to ask your creditors if they will agree to the finance whilst you are subject to the IVA.

Your IVA protects your property, and you will not need to sell your house (unless that is a specific term of your IVA proposal). A restriction may be lodged with the Land Registry, which means if anything is happening with the property during the term of the IVA, such as a re-mortgage or sale the Supervisor of your IVA will be notified. Once your IVA is finished, the restriction will be removed.

The terms of your IVA may require you to complete a review of the available equity in your property in the final 6 months of the IVA and if your equitable interest is more than £5,000 based on an 85% loan to value, you will need to attempt to release equity . Should you not be able to you may be expected to pay contributions for an additional 12 months.

To calculate the amount of equity you have, simply deduct your mortgage balance (and secured loan if applicable) from 85% of the valuation of your property. For example:

Property valuation £100,000

Valuation at 85% loan to value £85,000

Less mortgage of £70,000

Equity = £15,000

As the equity is more than £5,000 you would need to attempt to release equity. We can refer you to a third party to assist you with this.

You would not need to do anything if your equitable interest is less than £5,000 using the above calculation.

For further information specific to your IVA please check the terms of your IVA proposal.

Your IVA is a legally binding agreement and as such there are certain requirements expected from you. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in a breach notice being issued.

For example: You fail to maintain the contributions to your IVA, and you accrue arrears totalling the equivalent of 3 months payments.

The Supervisor will issue you with a breach notice and you will have ONE MONTH to resolve the matter. In the example of arrears of3 months contributions, the remedy would be to agree a suitable solution to make up the arrears.

If the breach is not remedied, your IVA is at risk of termination. This means creditors will be able to contact you for repayment directly, apply interest and charges that had previously been frozen and potentially take legal action to recover the debt.

Other examples of a breach notice

· your debts exceed by 25% or more of the total figure you have estimated in your proposal (IVA Protocol 2021 terms)

· you fail to disclose and pay funds realised from an asset or windfall e.g. inheritance or lottery win.

· you fail to comply with a reasonable request from your Supervisor e.g. you do not complete your annual income and expenditure review.

· you provide false or misleading information that is considered to be material e.g. you own a property which you did not disclose.

CAN I PAY OFF MY IVA EARLY?

Many people ask about how they can make an offer to complete their IVA early, there are two ways to complete your IVA early:

1. Full Settlement

You are in a position to pay creditors in full plus the costs of the IVA to end the IVA earlier than anticipated. This type of settlement is expected should an individual receive a windfall that is due into the IVA and meets this requirement as per the terms set out in your proposal and terms & conditions.

For example, if you receive inheritance of £100,000 and the total creditors plus the costs of the IVA is £10,000 a full settlement can be achieved.

2. Partial Settlement

An offer to creditors of a lump sum, usually from a third party in order to end the IVA earlier than originally anticipated. This type of offer requires a meeting of creditors known as a variation, where creditors will be asked to vote on whether they will accept the offer being made.

When making your offer you should consider whether creditors will be better off accepting your offer of settlement over allowing the IVA to continue.

For example, if you can afford to continue monthly payments you will pay £5,000 by the time the IVA ends, then an offer of £3,000 is not likely to be accepted by your creditors.

In order to consider an offer for a partial settlement of the IVA using funds from a windfall, when you are still in a position to pay your contributions or could pay a full settlement, we will require an explanation and supporting documentation as to why you wish to make an offer of early completion.

We cannot guarantee creditors will accept an offer of partial settlement; all offers will be considered based on your individual circumstances.

Get in touch with our dedicated team if you have any more questions.

Documentation Requirements

Offer of settlement via a third party • Photo ID of the person offering the money • A letter or email from the person making the offer which confirms the amount being paid • Document confirming the source and availability of the funds e.g. Bank Statement • Proof of Address e.g. a utility bill

Settlement via other means • Document confirming the source of the funds e.g. a copy of a letter from solicitor • Document confirming the availability of the funds e.g. Bank Statement • A letter or email confirming the amount being offered and the reason for the offer.

It may be necessary for us to request additional information from you other than the documents mentioned above. We will only ask for information where we believe it will be necessary to support your request.

During the IVA you may experience a change in circumstances or something will happen that requires a meeting of your creditors to agree a proposed change to the terms originally agreed. This is known as a variation meeting. A variation involves preparing a report to your creditors, convening a meeting of creditors – similar to the one at the start of your IVA when it was approved – and your creditors then decide on your proposed changes.

Variations can be required for several reasons, including:

· Decrease to the IVA payment following a reduction in disposable income.

· Dealing with arrears following a breach of the terms of the IVA

· Further credit request, such as car finance

· Increased debt level in excess of the amount allowable under the terms of the IVA

· Partial settlement of your IVA

Once the reason is established and all the information we need has been received, we will write to your creditors and convene a meeting (don’t worry you don’t need to attend in person). We must give creditors 28 days’ notice of the meeting. Your creditors will then vote on the proposals and if 75% or more of voting creditors, by debt level, vote to accept your revised proposals, the terms of your IVA will be amended.

You may have received communications from us that there is an issue with your IVA and there is a risk that the IVA will fail, also known as terminated. If this is the case, you need to contact us immediately so we can discuss the reason for this and what can be done to help you prevent the IVA from failing. This requires your full cooperation.

We know that things are not always easy, and circumstances change. We are here to help you navigate changes to your circumstance within the terms of the IVA and we will do all we can to help you have a successful IVA. Communication is key to this, so please call one of our dedicated team today!

The failure of an IVA is usually due to us being unable to resolve a breach of your IVA with you or your creditors.

You will receive a letter of termination and a failure report. Your creditors and the Insolvency Service will also be issued a copy so that they know your IVA has terminated.

The failure report includes all the details of your failed IVA, including:

· Creditor details

· How much each of your creditors have been paid.

· The reason why the IVA failed.

· Details of fees drawn by your Insolvency Practitioner

Your Supervisor will no longer be dealing with your creditors on your behalf. The failure of your IVA means your creditors can contact you directly to deal with your debts, you will no longer have the protection of the IVA. The creditors can take legal action against you as well as add interest and charges onto your debt that were frozen at the start of your IVA.

It is a real achievement to successfully complete an IVA, and you should feel proud of all of the hard work that you put in. Once your IVA is finished the disposable income that you once had to pay into your IVA will be yours to keep and spend however you want.

You and your creditors will receive a certificate of completion along with a final report.

You will be able to get credit again – note that you will need to rebuild your credit score and make sure you don’t over-commit yourself, it would be a shame to undo all of your hard work.

Your credit rating is impacted by several factors, the main factor being how good you are at borrowing money and paying it back on time. Lenders will use your credit rating to determine whether to lend you money, how much to lend and what interest rate to charge.

Entering an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) will have an impact on your credit rating. Once your IVA is approved, it will be recorded on your credit file and remain there for six years from the date it starts, even if you finish paying it off earlier.

After the IVA ends, your credit rating may begin to improve, but you’ll likely need to rebuild it gradually by demonstrating responsible financial behaviour.

Creditors included in the IVA will receive a copy of the final report and certificate of completion, they will typically take steps to update your credit file within eight weeks of receiving the report. It is a good idea to keep an eye on your credit report via a credit report agency such as Equifax, Experian or Call Credit for more information on your credit file and actions you can take to make sure the information held is accurate and up to date.

It’s also worth keeping a copy of your final report and Completion Certificate safe as you may need it to evidence that your IVA has successfully concluded if your creditors don’t take the necessary steps to update your credit file, or you would like it updated sooner.

WHAT ARE THE FEES?

The fees charged are documented and agreed at the outset of your IVA. The fees in an IVA are referred to as the Nominee Fee, Supervisory Fee and the related expenses connected with the arrangement are often referred to as ‘disbursements. Fees are charged and administered by your

Insolvency Practitioner who acts as Supervisor of the IVA.

Fees will be deducted from your IVA payment or funds from any 3rd party fund or other assets recovered by your IVA Supervisor in accordance with the agreed terms. The terms relating to costs and fees is set out within your IVA documentation. Should you have any questions about the fees specific to your arrangement please contact us.