IVAs are used to help people in situations where their debts are no longer manageable. In addition to avoiding bankruptcy, an IVA can put you in a better position to repair your credit rating in the future.
Because an IVA is a way to get control of your debt, rather than to give up responsibility for it as in bankruptcy, IVAs have far better future credit status prospects. IVAs are essentially a way to renegotiate your current credit agreements for unsecured personal debt. Instead of your unmanageable agreements as they stand, with an IVA you are proposing to make payments according to an alternative plan.
Your IVA proposal will outline what you are proposing to pay to your creditors over a specified period. This amount may well add up to less than what you owe them in the current state of affairs, but the creditors realise that they may receive even less if you end up becoming bankrupt.
When the IVA period is over, and providing you have kept to your part of the agreement, your creditors are legally obliged to consider your debts settled. This means that throughout the IVA term, you know that the payments you are making are actually reducing your debt, working towards it being cleared at the end
Credit during the IVA
While the IVA is running, you will not be allowed to get any other credit. This gives you the best possible chance of clearing those debts that are covered by the IVA, and you are supposed to pay as much as you can reasonably manage during this time.
Credit after the IVA
Once the IVA is finished, you will be able to seek credit again, and can get to work on improving your credit rating. The IVA prevents those included creditors from taking any legal action against you either during or after the IVA term. This means that you don’t have to worry about court action or CCJs on the debts that your IVA covers, providing you manage the IVA properly.
IVAs are a good option in terms of future credit. As long as you get the right agreement, you really can look forward to being debt free in the future.