Individual Voluntary Arrangement Qualifying Debts

Debts That Can Be Included In An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

Not all types of debt can be included in an IVA. It is important that you know what can be included to ensure that an IVA meets your requirements before applying.

During the period of your IVA, your creditors cannot ask you for payment of debts that are included, and if they do, you are not obliged to pay.

Debts that can be included in an IVA.

The debts below can be included in a DRO. In relation to rent, your landlord could still seek to evict you if you are behind with your payments, even if this debt has been included in your DRO, so you may have to keep paying this even after your DRO has been implemented.

Credit Cards
Store Cards
Bank and Payday Loans
Overdrafts
Catalogues
Utility Bill Arrears
Benefits and Tax Credit Overpayments
Income Tax and National Insurance Arrears
Debts to Family and Friends
Outstanding Invoices for Services such as Vet and Solicitor Invoices

If any of the above have been obtained fraudulently, you will still have to repay them once your IVA has ended.

Even if your debts can be included in an IVA, it’s important to remember that there will be an impact on your day-to-day life with an IVA, for example:

Details of your IVA will stay on your credit record for a period of 6 years - which will impact your ability to gain future credit.
You may be entitled to only a 'basic' bank account.
If you hold power of attorney for someone else's financial affairs, you will not longer be able to do so.
If you have goods purchased via HP, you will probably have to hand the goods back.
Some landlords do not accept individuals in a debt solution, so your home could be affected.

There are also rules that you must abide by when in an IVA, these include:

You cannot be a company director, or be involved in setting up a limited business without first obtaining permission from the courts.
You cannot borrow more than £500 without first telling the creditor that you are in an IVA.
Whilst the IVA is active your details will be publicly available on the Insolvency Register. Your credit record will also show that you have been in an IVA for a period of 6 years starting from when you entered into the IVA. If having your address viewable on the register could lead to violence against you or a member of your family, you can ask the courts to remove your address from the register.

Debts that cannot be included in an IVA.

The debts below cannot be included in your IVA. This means that even if your IVA is approved, you will still need to continue to repay these debts. You will therefore need to make sure that you can still afford to make these repayments on top of your IVA repayment each month.

If you are unsure whether you have debts that can or cannot be included in an IVA, speak to us today and we can help you decide whether an IVA is a suitable solution for you to apply for to manage your debts. It’s also worth noting that:

If you are still unsure whether a IVA is the best solution to help manage your debts, we can help you explore your options further. You can call us on 0161 660 2510 or complete our online IVA enquiry form and a member of our team will call you back.