The only condition necessary to enter an IVA is that the debtor is insolvent or in simple terms unable on an ongoing basis to pay his or her debts as they fall due.
Insolvency is also expressed as a financial state wherein a debtor’s liabilities exceed his or her assets. Inability to pay the bills is the simplest way to put it. You don’t have to own a home or indeed any property to enter an IVA. It is sufficient that you are insolvent and that you have some means to make an offer of repayment to your creditors. For most people, repayment funds will come from income earned in employment together with tax credits and in some cases from income comprised of benefits, pensions or even dividends. In a few cases a friend or relative.
An IVA can be an excellent way for a renter who is insolvent to address his or her financial problems. Total of unsecured debts (credit cards, loans, overdrafts and unpaid bills) should be in excess of £15,000. Disposable income i.e. the money you have left over when you have paid all reasonable living costs both for yourself and for any dependants you may have must be at a reasonable level. As a guideline this amount should be at least £200 per month. The fact that you are not a homeowner should not have any effect on the attitude of your creditors when they consider whether to accept your IVA proposals or to reject them. If you were to be made bankrupt, creditors would generally receive a much lower dividend and in many bankruptcy cases they receive no dividend at all.
While there is no minimum dividend required by law for an IVA to be proposed, creditors nowadays have great difficulty in accepting IVAs where the estimated dividend is lower than 25p in the £, although in exceptional cases a much lower dividend may be accepted. Some creditors set their minimum acceptable dividend much higher, as much as 40p in the £. Each case is assessed on its own merits. At least 75% of voting creditors must accept your IVA proposal for it to be approved. If you do not own a home, it should not discourage you from offering an IVA to your creditors and it should not be a barrier to your creditors accepting your IVA.