Debt

Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA)

An Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) is a debt solution that allows you to make affordable monthly payments towards clearing a percentage of your unsecured debts.

IVA's are typically set up by an insolvency practitioner or debt adviser and last for up to five or six years. Once it finishes, any associated debts you haven’t cleared will be wiped out.

Your credit rating will be affected, but if you stick to the agreed terms agreed when your IVA is approved, then creditors should stop contacting you and can no longer take you to court. In some cases, some of your belongings or property might be sold to raise money to pay back your creditors part of what you owe.

Protected Trust Deed

This is a Scottish debt solution. It's a voluntary agreement between you and your creditors. You agree to make regular payments over a fixed term to pay off part of the debt, and at the end of the period, the remaining debt is written off.

With a protected trust deed, your assets (property and belongings) are passed over to a trustee, who then pays your creditors on your behalf. In some cases, some of your belongings or property might be sold to raise money to pay back your creditors part of what you owe them.

A protected trust deed can give you the reassurance that your creditors can’t take further action to recover money from you. However, some protected trust deeds are ‘unprotected’ and in such cases some of your creditors may not be bound by its terms, so they may be able to take steps outside of the protected trust deed to recover the money you owe them.

Debt Management Plan (DMP)

With a Debt Management Plan, you make an informal agreement with your creditors to pay off your debts. You will make lower monthly payments than you are currently expected to pay. Your creditors may also agree to freeze interest and charges so that your debts don’t continue to grow. However, they are not obliged to, which may result in an increase in the total amount payable and impair your credit rating. A DMP is not legally binding, and you may be in a position where some of your creditors refuse to accept reduced payments.

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is an option in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland (where it is sometimes called sequestration) for people who cannot repay their debts. Creditors can petition for someone to be declared bankrupt under certain circumstances. You can also apply to go bankrupt yourself.

Bankruptcy is typically appropriate for people who are insolvent. In other words, they cannot pay their creditors when payments are due, or their total debts are bigger than the value of their assets.

Bankruptcy is usually a last resort and may involve having to sell your home. You may also need to sell some of your more valuable assets, possibly including your car. For example, if you own a car that’s worth more than £1,000 you may be required to sell it and buy a cheaper car to pay off some of your debt.

Debt Relief Order (DRO)

A Debt Relief Order is a form of insolvency aimed at people with relatively small levels of debt and - importantly - very little capacity to make any payments towards clearing their debt, i.e. less than £50 available each month after they have met their essential living costs. To be eligible for a DRO the total value of any vehicles you own must be less than £1,000. The same limit applies to non-vehicle assets.

A DRO could see all your debts written off after 12 months, although the eligibility criteria are fairly stringent. Bear in mind also that a DRO will appear on your credit file for six years and this may affect your ability to get credit.

DROs are available to people in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. A DRO must be administered by an approved company, and this is a service available from our selected debt advisers. There is a fee of £90, which you would need to pay to the Official Receiver when you apply for a DRO.

If you are struggling with debt, The Money Service’s selected debt advisers can talk to you about your circumstances before explaining your options.

Trusted by over 141,000 clients, your debt advisers have the experience to recommend an insolvency solution that will best meet your needs. They can then help you put that solution into place, for example as an insolvency practitioner to put a debt solution proposal together for your creditors. Whatever solution is right for you, their aim is to help you regain control of your finances and find a path to becoming debt-free again.

Please start your assessment by using our free calculator or get in touch now to access free debt advice.