With the cost of basic necessities rising by the day, restrained wage improvement and the prospect of mortgage interest rate increases, a stretching number of the public around England, Wales and Northern Ireland are finding that their debt level is a challenge to manage. We explore the time and commitment that would be made where an IVA is selected to deal with problem levels of debt.

Plenty of debt advice websites boldly state that the term of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is five years (often expressed as being sixty months). To an an extent this is correct; the amount of monthly payments determined to is usually sixty. It does anyhow ignore the period that it will take to get the IVA set up and subsequently to proceed to discharge, once the IVA commitments have been fully met. These extra periods of time also need to be taken into consideration.

At the start, establishing an IVA requires that a full review of an individuals' financial status be undertaken. Facts to be confirmed will involve fine points of the debts, details of any important assets that you might own, and your exact levels of income and expenditure. The debt adviser that you have approached will be able to assess these details and confirm which debt solution options are accessible to you and which might be considered most appropriate. Very often this collation of information can be conducted by telephone and email and need not be a very long process.

It is relevant to give the Individual Voluntary Arrangement company some documentation in order to confirm facts and figures that the individual has provided, if he decides to go with an Individual Voluntary Arrangement. This may include bank statements, creditor statements, utility bills and council tax bills. It is imperative to formulate this documentation earlier for easy access if an individual decides to go ahead with an IVA.

At this stage you should have the choice to meet the Individual Voluntary Arrangement provider in person. We assume that this choice should be very carefully considered and that a meeting in person go ahead wherever achievable. You'll be able to raise any queries or concern that might be crucial and the IVA provider will have the best possible opportunity to thoroughly state the commitments that are included in going ahead with an IVA.

After a meeting, the Individual Voluntary Arrangement company can act towards drafting an Individual Voluntary Arrangement agreement, the individual will then be able to look over everything and sign it if they are happy with the agreement. In order to formulate the documentation can be a quick process providing the documentation and information asked for for, can be given on time.

Once the Individual Voluntary Arrangement documentation has been provided, they will send it to the creditors for their discussion, with usually two weeks but maybe going towards three or or four weeks to consider the individuals IVA proposal, this is before the creditors meeting. At this meeting the Insolvency Practitioner will assess responses to the individuals proposals. Once accepted the individuals IVA will be running.

Your IVA fee will have commenced. Generally you will have agreed to make a payment every month for sixty months. However your IVA could be extended by an additional twelve payments if there is significant equity in your home but the means to release the equity for the benefit of your creditors does not exist. Similar circumstances could result from other assets that cannot easily be realised.

There are certain scenarios where an IVA can take longer than expected. For example if an individual has missed IVA payments, or have not reported the improvements in their situation that maybe found later, or do not comply with practical requests made of you.

Once all the agreed monthly payments which were agreed to have been made and the individual has fulfilled other commitments which were agreed to, maybe relating to equity, then the plan of ending the IVA can start and a certificate will be issued suggesting the completion of their Individual Voluntary Arrangement.