What are the fees for an IVA?
November 25, 2017
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a legally-binding agreement that helps people in significant debt to become debt-free over a period of time. Arranging an IVA involves considerable groundwork prior to presenting a proposal to creditors, and can be a complex process depending on your financial situation.
The professional fees involved reflect this level of work. As well as the initial cost of setting up the IVA, management fees and disbursements are also charged. The premise of an IVA is to allow debtors to repay as much as they can reasonably afford after essential living costs have been deducted, so the ongoing fees are generally taken from the monthly repayment rather than the debtor having to pay additional monies upfront.
Three categories of fee
The fees for an IVA can be broken down into three categories:
Nominee fee
The IP acts as ‘nominee’ initially. This fee covers the work involved in assessing your finances, arriving at an affordable repayment figure, preparing a proposal, and making an application to court. Creditors need to agree this fee at a creditors’ meeting before the IVA can go ahead.
Supervisor fee
Once the IVA has been approved, the insolvency practitioner’s role changes to that of supervisor. They receive your repayments, and distribute the money to creditors according to pre-agreed proportions.
As your creditors aren’t allowed to contact you directly, the IP also deals with their queries and correspondence, processes any assets involved in the IVA, and sometimes arranges for repayment terms to be amended if debtor circumstances change.
Disbursements
Disbursements are the miscellaneous charges paid to third parties. Examples include the registration fee for inclusion on the insolvency register, insurance for the money paid into your IVA, legal advice, and the charges associated with property valuation and land registry.
How are IVA fees paid?
In practice, once the IVA is in force, your creditors and the IP each take a pre-agreed percentage of the monthly repayment. As an example, creditors may agree to accept 85% of your payment monthly, with the insolvency practitioner taking the remaining 15% in fees.
If for some reason you receive a lump sum payment or financial windfall during the course of your IVA, however, and are able to repay your creditors, you become liable for the fees in full.
IVA fees vary between providers, but you should be able to obtain an initial quote or estimate. Amounts will depend on the complexity of each case, but are generally in the region of £5,000.
For information on our IVA fees, and to obtain expert advice on how best to proceed, call Northern Ireland Debt Solutions. We help Northern Irish residents to escape debt, and will guide you towards the best solution under your circumstances. We also offer an initial consultation free-of-charge.
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