What is an IVA ?

An IVA is a legal process for residents of England and Wales who have unaffordable debt repayments. It is a formal agreement between you and your creditors whereby you repay as much as you can afford, usually over 5 years, after which, any outstanding debt is written off.

What can an Abacus IVA do for me ?

Reduce debt by up to 70%
You only repay what is affordable after taking into account your personal circumstances.
Guarantee debt freedom in 5 years.
In 60 months you will be debt free, the rest is written off.
This is dependant on approval of 75% (by value of the debt) of your creditors, and provided you maintain the payment schedule.
Stop interest and charges.
Your debts will not increase and interest will be frozen.
Stop harassment.
Stops creditors and debt collectors from chasing you.
Stop court action.
Can stop bankruptcy proceedings and bailiffs
Possibly help you, where other IVA companies could not.

Our costs are low, so creditors get more of the money you pay into the IVA.
Therefore were are able to assist many people other IVA companies can not. See IVA costs for further explanation.

Affordable payments

With the help of one of our advisors, you calculate how much you can realistically afford to pay back each month.

If *75% of your creditors accept your offer, then the IVA is officially in place. This is legally binding . At this point, the value of your debt is frozen and you will not be subject to further interest or charges.

*“75% of your creditors“, means 75% by value of the debt. If you owe £40,000, then creditors to whom you own at least £30,000 of this debt is 75% of your creditors by value. This does not mean if you owe to 8 creditors, then any 6 must agrees to your IVA proposal. It may be the case that only 4 out of 8 would account for 75% of the debt by value.

If you are confident you can maintain the agreed monthly payment, an Abacus IVA could be the solution for you.

IVA’s do not cost you anything.

There are costs involved in setting up and IVA as the work of an insolvency professional is not free. However, fees are deducted from the money paid to your creditors, hence they bear the cost. Fees are not added to your payments. However fees charged by an IVA company are a factor in the success or failure of an IVA proposal. See IVA Fees and Costs for more details.

I’m considering an IVA – What Next ?

Call us or submit the Instant Advice form. We will need to ask you about your financial circumstances. Only if we consider an IVA to be in your best interests would the reccommend a formal proposal. Once you have instructed use to act, we will-

Prepare all the paper work.
Contact all your creditors.
Request creditors suspend any court or legal action.
Request creditors freeze interest and other charges at this time.
Draft your offer based on the information you have provided. When you are happy with the proposal, sign and return it to us.
Perform the administration process on your behalf.

You do not have to attend the court or be involved in meetings or negotiations with creditors.

For those that qualify, an IVA can be the best method to sort out serious debt problems, especially if you are a homeowner with equity to protect.

More information on IVA’s