What is an IVA? You must have minimum of 3 credit agreements with debt of £15,000 plus You must have disposable income of £275 You must be employed or self employed A legal agreement under the Insolvency Act 1986 Handled by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner An agreement with 75% or more of the creditors by value to accept the proposal The proposal is for the lenders to accept a lower amount than the amount outstanding based on what you can afford usually over 60 months payment calculated on disposable income before unsecured debt payments potential to reduce payments to a more affordable amount  lump sum payments can be made interest on all accounts will be frozen although the typical period of repayment of the IVA is 60 months, the Insolvency Practitioner may decide to collect up to a further 12 months the Insolvency Practitioner may require the release of equity in the 4th year retrictions will be placed by the Insolvency Praction on types of expenditure permitted lenders cannot take legal action the selected Insolvency Practitioner manages payments on your behalf Fee payable  there is no upfront fee payable apart from any advice fee the adviser may charge (maximum £285) the Insolvency Prationer will charge a fee which is taken into consideration when the creditors agree to accept the IVA proposal. The IVA monthly payments agreed will be inclusive of the fee. A typical fee would be 15% of the IVA amount agreed Failure to maintain payments on an IVA agreement may result in bankruptcy