IVAs -- Are they ar good thing?

Legacy_user

I have been reading about IVAs and I have to admit I am quite tempted. Are they really a workable option or should they be avoided at all costs?

deemy2004

Individual circumstances

Size of debt, impact of bankruptcy on employment etc...

Generally if your a professional i.e. solicitor, accountant, then its probably good for you.

If Your say an admin clerk with little assets than its probably a bad thing.

Debt_Free_Chick

An IVA is an alternative to bankruptcy.

Ideally, you need to have a lot of money to spare every month and/or a lump sum.

An IVA is a formal process - through the County Court - where you pay your creditors off over a period of time, usually 3 or 5 years.

You will need an Insolvency Practioner and the fee is likely to exceed £5,000.

You will need 75% of your creditors to agree to the IVA in order for it to go through - 75% of the value of the debts, not just 3/4 of the number of creditors.

If you don't stick to the IVA, your creditors can petition for you to be made bankrupt.

IVAs are not particularly flexible, so if anything unforeseen happens, you could be in a spot of bother.

Visit the National Debtline website, in particular, this part

http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_factsheets/factsheet_26.php3

HTH