Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA)
Consumer Debt
An IVA is a tailored proposal by a debtor to his creditors to repay over an extended period of time.
Typically, a % of debt can be written off, each case is unique as each person’s circumstances are different this is where our experience and expertise comes in to play.
Business Debt
When a business is unincorporated a proprietor is personally liable for all the business debts.
This means that an unincorporated trader has unlimited liability and may have to dispose of all assets to meet the amounts due to his creditors. When a proprietor or partners of a business cannot pay the debts of the business as they fall due it is said to be insolvent. An IVA is a tailored proposal by a debtor to his creditors to repay debt over an extended period of time. Typically a % of debt can be written off.
Joint Individual Voluntary Arrangement
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement is as implied in the name an individual plan. However it is possible to present an IVA in an interlocking fashion, where couples present joint debts, joint income and expenditure and make one repayment in the IVA to cover both of them.
Take John and Janet for example. Since they were married 10 years ago they have always regarded their income and outgoings in a joint way. They have a joint bank account where their respective salaries are paid into, and each has benefitted from the others’ debts. If you want to know more please call…
Partnership Voluntary Arrangement
PVA stands for Partnership Voluntary Arrangement
A PVA is a legal, binding agreement between the partners and the partnership creditors.
A PVA works in a similar way to a Company Voluntary Arrangement.
The partnership could continue to trade if there was a viable business.
Debt Management Plans
DMP stands for Debt Management Plan.
A DMP is an informal ‘agreement’ between you and your unsecured creditors.
It replaces all your current payments (to unsecured creditors) with one affordable payment.
We would liaise directly with your creditors and make the monthly payment to your creditors.
Any calls from creditors can be referred to us.
The level of DMP monthly payment is likely to be less than under an IVA – usually £100 is quoted as a minimum monthly payment but this is not a rigid amount.
The amount paid to creditors is split proportionally, depending upon the amounts due to each of the creditors.
There is no set period for the DMP to run. It can either run for a few months or it can extend for several years. A DMP is really suited for a short term period (say 6 months) and is not appropriate for a long term period (say 5 years).
A DMP does not need an Insolvency Practitioner to manage the arrangement. Indeed, you can do it yourself but it is more credible to use a professional firm to negotiate with your creditors.
There is no fixed amount of debt to qualify for a DMP – typically this would be at least a total of £3000 with at least 3 creditors.
The DMP has no effect on your property and does not stop any of your creditors taken action through the courts to obtain a ‘charging order’ against your property which will effectively secure that debt.
A DMP is not a legally binding arrangement and will not prevent any formal action being taken against you by a creditor.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a court procedure.
You can make application to the court yourself under a debtor’s petition or an application could be made by one of your creditors under a creditor’s petition.
Once an order is made the Official receiver will be appointed to deal with the administration of your case.
Depending upon the complexity and value of your case the Official Receiver may appoint an Insolvency Practitioner to deal with the case as Trustee in Bankruptcy.
You will not have any say in the appointment of the Insolvency Practitioner, and in practice, he could be situated anywhere in England or Wales.
The Official Receiver’s (or the Trustee’s) role is to realise your bankruptcy assets (if any), agree creditor claims, distribute any dividends and investigate any matters arising that he considers appropriate.
All calls from creditors can be referred to the Official Receiver or Trustee.
You will be automatically discharged after one year from the date of the Bankruptcy order or earlier if the Official Receiver has completed all his enquiries.
The Official Receiver or Trustee can apply to have the automatic discharge suspended if his enquiries are on-going.
Any debts not paid from the recoveries made by the Official Receiver or Trustee will be written off.
There is no restriction on the value of your assets or the level of your creditor or your income (as with a DRO).
