Individual voluntary arrangement. IVA debts

When you enter into an IVA, most of your debts will usually be included, including:

• Catalogues
• Credit cards
• Personal loans
• Overdrafts
• Gas and electric arrears
• Council tax arrears
• Water arrears
• Payday loans
• Store cards
• Income tax and national insurance arrears
• Tax credit or benefit overpayments
• Debts to family and friends
• Any other outstanding bills, for example solicitor’s costs, invoices for building work and veterinary bills

Your insolvency practitioner, who administers IVAs, will confirm which debts will be included.

Debts that aren’t usually included in an IVA include:

• Mortgages and secured loans
• Hire purchase agreements
• Court fines
• TV Licence arrears
• Student loans
• Child support arrears

A joint debt is a debt that has your name and the name of another person you entered into it with on the agreement. A joint debt can be included in an IVA, however, the other person named on the debt will still be responsible for making payments towards it.

If you have some of the debt written off, the other person will still be asked to pay the remaining money back. If you have joint debts, and are thinking about entering into an IVA, you should get debt advice first.

We can let you know how it’ll affect you and the other person named on the debts. If the person you have joint debts with is worried about money or struggling to keep up to date with payments, you should encourage them to get debt advice too.

You can’t get an IVA in joint names, but you may be able to get an ‘inter-locking IVA’ where you make a joint payment towards your individual agreements.

Yes, a CCJ can and should be included in your IVA. Making separate payments to a creditor through a CCJ would be seen as showing them preference, which would be against the terms of the agreement.

If you’re already making payments towards a CCJ, these payments will end. The money owed would then be added to your IVA.

You may be able to include rent arrears from a previous property in your IVA, the same way you can include other unsecured debts

It’s very unlikely that rent arrears on a property you’re currently renting would be included, as this could put you at more risk of eviction, especially if you rent privately.

Before an IVA is agreed, a proposal will be put to your creditors. If they agree to the IVA you’ll make monthly payments towards the IVA for 60 or 72 months, unless you have a lump sum IVA. If you have a lump sum IVA, you’ll make a one-off larger payment into it.