What’s wrong with an Individual Voluntary Arrangement?
Unlike a debt management plan, an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is a formal insolvency process. This is a solution which should be considered very carefully as it is rarely the right solution for your circumstances.
Reports have highlighted a spate of widespread mis-selling and dishonest practices when it comes to IVAs in recent years. An IVA is often not the right ‘debt solution’ for those with large debts and is not something anyone should feel forced into.
Why an IVA?
It can be terrifying and isolating when you start struggling to meet payment demands and begin to slide into debt. At this point, you may feel desperate for a ‘magic’ solution to your debt problem.
If you are already in an IVA, you will know that there is no such thing as an easy way out of debt. An IVA is a written contract, which is an exchange of promises between you and the creditors who are bound by the IVA.
You will have agreed to make payments to your IVA over a fixed period of time and your creditors will have agreed to accept those payments instead of the individual claims they had against you.
There could be serious consequences if you fail to make the agreed payments. However, you may have been badly advised when you agreed to enter into an IVA and you may not have been warned about those consequences.
The companies who ‘sell’ IVAs are often paid very large referral fees. This means there is very little emphasis on getting the ‘right’ solution for your circumstances. This makes it almost impossible to get impartial advice – making it very difficult to assess your options when an IVA becomes inappropriate and/or unaffordable.
Galahad & Co. offers a flexible alternative to any insolvency process. If you would like to discuss your IVA and explore your options, we are here to speak with you today.
‘Mis-sold’ IVAs
A recent industry report highlighted widespread failings and misrepresentations by those companies and individuals who ‘sold’ IVAs.
If you were not properly advised about the features of your IVA or other solutions available to you, you may have a right to unwind your IVA. You may also be able to claim back the fees you paid to your IVA supervisor. This being said, it is important to understand that any complaint that you may have against an individual or organisation who advised you about an IVA will not affect the contract between you and the creditors. However, if your IVA has failed and no bankruptcy proceedings have yet been taken against you, it may well be worth contacting us to see if we can help.
Here at Galahad & Co., we can defend you from any claims made by creditors and debt collection companies. To date, we have saved our clients over £2 million in unsecured debt.
