Sole Trader Debt | IVA | Individual Voluntary Arrangement

What is an Individual Voluntary Arrangement?

An IVA is a legal agreement between you and your creditors where you pay back a portion of the debts that you owe. Reduced payments are negotiated with your creditors at a sum that is affordable to you. These payments go towards the total percentage of debt that you owe to your creditors.

An IVA generally lasts for 60 months (5 years). In some circumstances however, an IVA can be completed in a few months, but this would normally involve introducing a Lump Sum into the IVA, hence the name Lump Sum IVA.

Some IVA arrangements can last more than 5 years to introduce payments in lieu of a remortgage (if applicable to your case). In exceptional circumstances a small number of arrangements can last more than 6 years. The length of time your IVA will last will be determined in the IVA proposal, once all of your circumstances have been taken into account.

After this time the amount of debt you have paid off is settled with your creditors and any remaining debts are cleared, which you will no longer be responsible for.

How does a Sole Trader get an IVA approved?

In order to set up an IVA, there are certain criteria that must be met. You generally need debts from over £15,000 and more than two creditors. It doesn’t matter whether you are a tenant or a homeowner. Due to the nature of an IVA being a formal agreement, it is not something you can set up on your own. You will need a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner or a company that employs Insolvency Practitioners.

At BusinessDebtAdvice.co.uk our experienced Debt Advisors are happy to go through your situation on the phone to see if an IVA is the best debt option for you. We will do a detailed analysis of your situation, your income, your outgoings, your bills and debts and anything else that you like to discuss. Then, if we determine that an IVA is your best course of action and you decide that you want to proceed, then we will take the necessary steps, along with our highly qualified Insolvency Practitioners, to put your IVA Proposal in place and forward it to your creditors for negotiation. If all goes well here and at least 75% of your creditors (by debt balance) agree to the IVA, then your IVA can be set up.

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.

What living costs are allowed in an IVA?

In an IVA you will have an agreed budget for your all your living costs. There are allowances made 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.

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