If you are in serious financial difficulty, it may be possible to avoid the serious consequences of bankruptcy by entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement.
What is an IVA?
An IVA is formal agreement with your creditors to pay off all or some of your debts. It works as follows:
- You will need the approval of the majority of your creditors.
- If it is approved no bankruptcy petition may be presented or proceeded with and no other legal action can be taken to enforce payment of the debts whilst the IVA is in force. If a bankruptcy order has been made against you, it will be annulled.
- The IVA proposal may involve a repayment plan or handing over some assets for the benefit of the creditors, or a combination of the two.
- It is under the control of an Insolvency Practitioner called the ‘supervisor’.
- If you make payments in accordance with the agreement, and otherwise comply with the terms of the agreement, you will not be made bankrupt or have other legal action taken against you in respect of the debts.
How to obtain an IVA
You will need the assistance of an Insolvency Practitioner to take the following steps:
- A proposal for the IVA must be prepared in the proper form. At this stage the Insolvency Practitioner acts as the ‘nominee’. The role of the nominee is establishing credibility for the proposal with the creditors. The nominee will normally draft the proposal along with the supporting documents including the debtors’ Statement of Affairs and go on to become the supervisor of the IVA.
- An application may need to be made to the court for an interim order to provide a moratorium (freedom from most forms of legal action against you) whilst the proposal is considered by your creditors. The interim order lasts for 14 days but it may be extended.
- Before the IVA proposal can proceed, the nominee must submit a report to the court stating that it has a reasonable prospect of being approved and implemented.
- A meeting of creditors must be summoned with the correct form of notice being given to all creditors. This must take place between 14 and 28 days after the nominee has submitted the report to the court. The nominee acts as chairman of the meeting and has the power to decide whether to accept or reject debts for voting purposes. At the meeting, creditors may propose modifications to the IVA.
- The proposal must be approved by at least 75% of the creditors by value, voting at the meeting or by proxy. But it is also necessary that over 50% of these votes are from creditors who are not connected with the debtor.
The IVA in operation
Once the proposal has been approved:
- The chairman of the meeting files a report with the court indicating the outcome of the meeting
- The chairman provided details of the IVA to the Secretary of State. These details will be entered in the register of IVAs which is open for public inspection.
- The supervisor will file reports of receipts and payments until the IVA has been completed.
- If problems arise in connection with the implementation of the IVA the supervisor can apply to the court for directions as to how to proceed.
- If the terms of the IVA are not complied with, a warning may be given by the supervisor. If this does not lead to the IVA being adhered to, the arrangement may be terminated. In that event, it is likely that the supervisor will have to petition for the debtor’s bankruptcy.
- The supervisor may then become the trustee in bankruptcy.
Taking legal advice
Whether an IVA is the right course for a person with serious financial problems, needs careful advice and consideration. A balance needs to be achieved between providing a reasonable return for creditors without making the terms so demanding for the debtor that the IVA fails and they become bankrupt. Advice from a good Insolvency Practitioner is essential. Additional legal advice may be required in some cases.
For more information proceed to Responding to an IVA
For more information, please contact our team of experts by emailing insolvency@bankruptcy-solicitors.com or call 020 8308 3610 today.