A concern for anyone who is considering entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) may be whether people in general will become aware of their financial difficulties and particularly whether their family, friends, acquaintances or employer will learn about their IVA.
Following approval by creditors, every IVA is listed on The Insolvency Service website, which is generally of interest only to those involved in the insolvency or credit industries. There is no provision in legislation requiring the publication in newspapers or periodicals of the name of any person who has entered into an IVA.
Who is notified about my IVA?
Creditors
The people who will definitely know about your IVA are firstly your creditors – anybody to whom you owe money. This will include any banks, credit card providers, loan providers, mortgage providers and any vehicle HP provider with whom you have a liability. It also includes utility providers and your local authority but only if you are in arrears with your accounts for supply of utilities or council or water tax or if you have been overpaid some benefit. If you are self-employed then your trade creditors will have to be notified about your IVA as will HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) – since payments of tax & national insurance are usually made in arrears. If you have been overpaid tax credits then HMRC will also be notified about your IVA since they are a creditor because of the overpayment which you will have to repay. If you owe money to a family member they will have to be informed. Any business partner you may have will also be entitled to know about your IVA.
Joint Assets
The other major category of persons who will need to be notified about your IVA is anybody who owns any asset jointly with you and particularly property. This would usually include your spouse or co-habiting partner since your IVA may have an effect on the future ownership of joint assets. There are certain exceptional circumstances where a spouse or co-habiting partner might not need to be notified of your IVA but this would be most unusual.
The Insolvency Service & Court
Furthermore, the court with which the IVA is registered and The Insolvency Service also have to be notified about your IVA. Once your creditors learn of your IVA, they may record defaults on your credit files which are maintained by the credit reference agencies such as Experian and Equifax. Access to and publication of such personal financial data relating to insolvent individuals is not prohibited by the Data Protection Act.
So, who is not notified about my IVA?
Employer
The big difference between an IVA and Bankruptcy is that your employer will not be informed that you are in an IVA whereas if you become bankrupt they are informed. The general public including your acquaintances, relations, friends and family, subject to the exceptions stated above, will not be informed about your IVA either. Anybody may become aware of your IVA but the fact that you are in an IVA is usually not common knowledge. Certainly the Insolvency Practitioner (IP) who deals with your case as either Nominee or Supervisor of your IVA is duty bound to treat your case in strict confidentiality and any staff employed by the IP in the matter are also so bound. Your IVA may not be divulged to third parties without your express permission. For these reasons the stigma of bankruptcy is markedly absent in an IVA and this is still one of the major reasons why insolvent persons prefer to enter into an IVA than to go bankrupt.