Your Individual Voluntary Arrangement journey begins here
Welcome to Creditfix – the UK’s leading provider of Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs)
You’ve taken the first step to making positive changes to your financial future, now let’s look at what’s next in your IVA journey.Sign your proposal
You’ll be sent your IVA proposal via the client app. It’s important you read this carefully and return it as soon as possible to allow us to progress your application.
Change your bank
Your expert advisor will let you know if you need to change banks before proceeding with the application. You may be asked to do this if you owe money to your existing bank and it’s often the simplest way to stop creditors taking money while we set up your arrangement. If you’re asked to switch it’s important to do so as quickly as possible.
Meeting of creditors
We’ll then arrange a meeting of your creditors, sometimes referred to as MOC. Don’t worry, this is a routine part of the IVA process. For your arrangement to be approved, it has to be reviewed and signed off by a majority of your creditors – the people you owe money to.
Despite the term, creditors don’t actually meet in person. Instead they vote on your proposal virtually, often in advance, of a deadline, also known as the meeting date. It can take about 16 days for us to set a meeting date.
Sharing your proposal with creditors
As soon as we’ve shared your proposal with creditors and given them notice of the deadline for the meeting, you’ll receive an email and an app update from us confirming that your proposal has been shared, and notifying you of the meeting date.
The voting process can take up to four weeks so if things go a little quiet during this time don’t worry. Just as we’ll stay in touch with your creditors during this time, we’ll also keep you in the loop with any updates.
Possible meeting outcomes
There are three possible outcomes of a meeting of creditors.
1. Arrangement approved
Of course, having your arrangement approved is the best possible outcome. It means your creditors have reviewed your financial history, examined your IVA proposal and at least 75% of them have agreed to the terms of your IVA. Creditfix has a proven track record of IVA approvals. In fact, almost 81% of our IVAs are approved each month.
2. Arrangement approved with modifications
If your arrangement is accepted subject to modifications, don’t panic. In some cases creditors will ask for changes, or modifications, to be made to the proposal. Common modifications include asking you to increase your monthly payments or extending your arrangement term from five to six years.
Modification requests can be a good sign that the IVA will be approved as long as the requests are met. We’ll talk through any modifications with you as soon as possible to help you make an informed decision on what to do next. If you need time to think about it, we can ask for the next meeting of creditors to be delayed.
3. Arrangement rejected
If your IVA proposal is rejected it means that 75% of your creditors can’t agree on your proposal. If this happens, we’ll call you to discuss next steps. This might mean we resubmit the proposal or look at an alternative debt solution.
There’s also an alternative outcome you should be aware of – your meeting could be adjourned. This means the creditors have asked for more time to review the case but they only have 14 days from the date of the original meeting to do so.
What happens after the decision is made?
Next steps depend on the outcome of the meeting.
If your proposal is approved we’ll email you to let you know the good news. You’ll also receive your proposed repayment plan and your IVA can become legally binding. You’ll start making monthly contributions after this.
If approval is subject to modifications, we’ll talk you through the chances and help you make a decision that works for you.
If your arrangement is rejected, we’ll call you and talk you through all the options available to you. As mentioned this could be re-submitting your proposal or potentially looking at alternative debt solutions that you may benefit from. The most important thing is not to worry, we’re still here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Still have questions? That’s OK, you’re not the only one. Check out some of the most common questions we’re asked about the IVA journey.
When your debt solution is all set up, the fees to cover your IVA will be taken from the monthly amount you pay to your creditors. Don’t worry – that fee is included in the monthly amount that’s been proposed. Everything’s covered by that figure, and we won’t take any money from you upfront.
If you’ve been asked to switch bank account, it could be because you’re already in debt to your existing bank, and it’s often the easiest way to prevent your creditors taking money while we get your proposal underway. Setting up a new account doesn’t have to be a hassle – with some accounts, you can organise the switch in a matter of minutes.
An IVA is designed to help you budget your income and get out of debt, for good. Taking out more credit will only set you back – and we want to give you every chance to stick to the plan.
Until you sign your proposal and your IVA is approved your creditors are still allowed to contact you. Once your IVA is in place, you’ll be legally protected from them getting in touch – and we’ll contact them on your behalf to let them know.
A typical IVA takes 5-6 years to complete. When you consider that the average credit card debt takes 26 years 7 months to pay off (making just the minimum payments), you’ll see why an IVA can be a lifeline for those who want to get out of debt sooner rather than later.
If a friend or family member has offered to pay off your debt for you, we can still help. We’ll set up what’s called a ‘full and final meeting’ on your behalf. This will allow you to pay a lump sum to all your creditors, and write off the rest.