Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) are primarily used for unsecured debts such as credit cards and loans. Mortgage arrears are not normally covered by an IVA for this reason. However, if you’re struggling with debt and are being threatened with repossession, an IVA may help in conjunction with other measures.
If you’re facing possible repossession, the first thing you need to do is speak to a debt expert. IVAs are used for people who are facing bankruptcy on account of their unsecured debts being unmanageable. If your situation involves both secured and unsecured debts, then an IVA may be one of the things that will help. If this is the case, you should speak to an Insolvency Practitioner who will advise you about the range of measures that may help.
Your Insolvency Practitioner will get a sound sense of your overall financial situation, from your income and assets through to your outgoings and total debts. This will allow them to provide you with the best protection that the legal system has to offer, and access to those measures that can help you get things sorted.
An IVA can help people who are facing repossession by relieving the pressure on their mortgage payments. They do this by reducing the other debt payments you are having to make. If an IVA is able to take a chunk off of the debt payments that you are making towards your unsecured debts, this could well give you the breathing space to get your mortgage under control.
Using an IVA may well need to be just one of a series of methods to avoid repossession, depending on your own particular case. Remortgaging or applying to have your possession order suspended if it has already been issued are two other possible measures that you may want to explore.
Strictly speaking, IVAs are not intended to be used for secured debts such as mortgages, but in situations where your mortgage troubles are coupled with other debt problems, an IVA may be a helpful tool. Most of us have multiple different types of debt these days, which means that dealing with them when they get out of control typically requires a number of different approaches.