Best IVA Companies UK

Searching for the best debt management IVA plan can be a stressful task. But we’re here to put you at ease before deciding on your IVA supervisor, be sure to look out for the key features of a reputable IVA company.

IVAs are not suitable for all UK citizens and other solutions like DMP plans or DRO services might be an alternative.

Prior to choosing the best IVA advisor we strongly recommend checking the best option for your current debts.

In a quest for a debt-free future, you will want to pick out an FCA-approved insolvency practitioner.

Read on as we help you find the best IVA company and the best way to begin the IVA process – this is what you should know in November 2024.

Best IVA Companies 2024

Here are some options for IVA companies to contact in November 2024:

1. Abbotts Insolvency
2. NTF Financial Solutions Insolvency
3. Begbies Traynor Group
4. Creditfix Insolvency
5. PayPlan
6. Stepchange

*Best-Companies.co.uk is for information purposes only. Nothing constitutes professional or financial advice as per finance legal disclaimer*

What is an IVA Company?

An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a voluntary agreement to repay your debts. This will be made with an IVA company that helps you calculate an affordable amount you can pay per month to your creditors.

The insolvency practitioner takes care of your debts and lowers the monthly payments to one affordable monthly payment.

The individual voluntary arrangement lasts five years and is a contract between you and the chosen insolvency practitioner.

How To Choose the Best IVA Company?

The best IVA company is the one that fits your situation perfectly. In terms of qualities, each company differs from the other. It’s difficult to recommend one company as the best.

It is advised to base your decision on the following:

Ease of Setup

Handling your debt is already stressful enough; taking steps to rectify your financial situation should be made simple.

It’s helpful to find a company with a simple setup process. This can be hard to distinguish when searching for an IVA company; luckily, we have done the hard work for you.

We check their protocol, reviews and more to ensure we find companies with a straightforward introduction.

Cost of Fees

There are two extremes when it comes to fees. You should see free practices as a red flag, but you’ll also want affordable charges.

A free consultation is a great feature, but the service should come with a fee; it costs money for the company to offer an IVA insolvency practitioner. We prefer companies with free debt consultations and no upfront fees.

Debt Solutions

A good IVA company will specialise in more than IVAs; they’ll also be able to offer you other debt solutions. This is required, as you’ll want to explore various options to ensure you agree on the best one for you.

Ensure you get access to UK-accredited debt advisors that can help you find the best debt solution.

Realistic Agreement

In simple terms, an IVA is an affordable and realistic agreement to settle debts. It shouldn’t be false promises that are far-fetched and instead, should be the right debt solution for you.

We have sifted through the best companies and ensured that they are realistic.

IVA Reviews

One way to know about a company’s performance is to take a look at customers’ feedback. The best IVA companies will be highly rated. It usually means that you will have a high-quality experience with the company.

Avoid companies with negative reviews or a lack of positive reviews. They are not worth wasting time or money. You can check out Google or Trustpilot for independent reviews.

Cheapest IVA’s

Some IVA companies start their minimum IVA payments on unaffordable levels. It’s hard for those people who are already struggling with debt. Usually, debt charities and debt management companies fall in this category.

It’s important to consider companies that have low minimum monthly payments. It would be easy to afford their monthly fee, even if things took a turn for the worse.

Well established

Look for companies that have been well-established for several years. Remember that the IVA proposal should be perfect before it reaches you.

An experienced and well-established company will never let you down.

FCA Approved

The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulatory body; all of the businesses we list are licensed under the FCA.

Most companies require an application; once completed, you will be offered debt counselling. Always make sure you’re getting debt advice from an FCA approved business.

How Do IVA Companies Make Money?

An IVA is usually flexible to suit your needs but also expensive. It’s because it has to be set up by a professional insolvency practitioner. The IP charges fees for setting and managing your IVA.

This professional service will be provided to you by the IVA company.

IVA companies only charge you a fee when your IVA is proposed and accepted by your creditors.

All fees are usually paid out of your regular monthly payments. You don’t have to pay any additional charges.

Once your individual voluntary arrangement is accepted, you have to pay the following fees to the insolvency practitioner:

1. A nominee’s fee
2. Supervisor’s fees
3. Costs/expenses

Nominee fee

This fee applies to the professional costs and fees of the company for the organisation of your IVA. It includes:

1. Preparing your IVA proposal.
2. Organising the creditors’ meeting. In this meeting, creditors can request changes to the IVA’s terms.

Generally, the cost is between 1000 GBP and 2700  GBP. The fee structure may vary from one company to another.

The Nominees’ fee is the first to be paid before any payments made to the creditors. Always check the costs involved beforehand.

Supervisor fees

The Supervisors’ fees cover the continuous work involved in operating your IVA. It usually is charged at 15–18% of any money received by the Supervisor.

It also includes any money distributed to your creditors. Your monthly contributions, any assets and windfall acquired during the term of IVA are included as well.

Costs

Companies are entitled to claim back the cost of certain expenses like postage, insurance, etc. and sustained directly in connection with the running of your IVA.

The amount of fees is determined in IVA proposals.

IVA Companies To Avoid

Serious debts are concerning, but what’s even more frustrating? Wasting time and money on debt relief scams and bogus companies. There are several businesses on the market, but not all worth trying.

Here are some aspects that scam companies or new companies entail. You should definitely avoid such companies.

Here are some IVA Debt Advisors online who are not insolvency practitioners and only pass the enquiries on.

• Debt Nurse : Overall Best Place for IVA Debt Help and Advice
• Viva Debt Help : Best Place to Get Obligation Free IVA Debt Management Advice to Help Brits Avoid Bankruptcy
• Help My Debts Pro : Best IVA Debt Write Off Advice for Individuals in Debt Between £5000 and £30000+
• 123 Debt Fix : Best Place to Get Advice on a Debt Relief Order vs IVA from FCA Approved Debt Advisors to Help You Find the Right Debt Solution

These 4 IVA companies are packagers or lead generators and not an IP who will deal directly with your case.

Large upfront fee

When you are looking for IVA companies to consider what they are offering. Some companies promise to clear debts and submit IVA on your behalf and charge a fee.

If the company requests a hefty upfront fee, you should avoid such companies.

Warning signs

One of the prominent warning signs is found on the company’s advertisements. Companies claiming to reduce payments to creditors by 75 percent should definitely be avoided. Such claims are virtually impossible to fulfil.

Stay away from companies that make absurd claims. They rarely know what they are dealing with.

Lack of Business Address

Many companies contacted through emails and fliers. Sometimes, the scam companies will advertise in newspapers. One of the main warning signs is that the company operates with only a postal box address.

There is no actual address whatsoever. All this makes it easier for the company to remain hidden. You should avoid such companies at any cost.

License

An IVA company usually requires a consumer credit license from the government. Their IP should have a background in accountancy or law. They are licensed to provide insolvency services.

Check these licenses before agreeing to let the company arrange an individual voluntary arrangement. If a company hesitate or unable to provide these licenses, avoid them. Any agreement you enter into will be legally binding so it’s important to ensure it’s all above board.

Failure rate

Various IVA firms have a failure rate of less than 15%. However, others have over 30%.

When choosing an IVA company, check out their failure rate. If they have high failure rates, it goes without saying you should move to another option.

Extended Time to Issue a Completion Certificate

Usually, firms get most certificates out in twelve weeks after the final payment. Meanwhile, some have many IVAs still open a year later. Avoid companies that took too much time to issue a completion certificate.

Other Debt Help UK Services

In addition to IVA, there are other ways to manage your debt. Here are the different types of debt solutions in the UK:

Debt Management Plans

Debt management plans UK come in different forms with consolidation loans, consolidation credit cards and ways to refinance. All these methods are implemented to help you manage your debt and pay it off over time.

Debt Relief Orders

Debt relief orders in the UK allow you to put your monthly repayments on hold for a year. After 12 months if your current situation hasn’t changed, you could begin steps to write off the debt.

Ask for details

The best way to uncover a scam or test a company’s experience is to ask for details.

Ask the spokesperson how they will conduct the IVA arrangements. Get into the specific details. If the company cannot answer, then be careful.

Some other tips to help you avoid scam companies are:

1. Make sure you choose a free service provider for setting up your IVA.
2. Invest time with your advisor so he can understand your circumstances.
3. Your advisor should be knowledgeable and empathic. They should be able to explain all aspects of the IVA solution to you in clear and plain English.
4. The purpose of any consultation should be to provide you with balanced debt advice. You need to make sure you can make an informed decision on your own terms.
5. Be cautious of unrealistic contributions.
6. Beware of the over-promise or guarantee of success.
7. Always follow your instincts.
8. Make sure you have a money-back guarantee in case of your IVA rejection.

Other Debt Solutions

An IVA is not the only debt solution you have and this is where speaking to a qualified debt advisor is very important.

After speaking to a debt consultant you might realise the best debt solutions are one of the following:

• Best DAS Companies

  

• Best Full and Final Companies

  

• Best IVA Companies in Manchester

  

• Best IVA Companies UK

  

• Best Sequestration Companies

  

• Best Trust Deed Companies

  

• Debt Consolidation Companies

  

• Debt Relief Order Companies

  

• DMP Companies

  

Make sure you take time to understand all the debt solutions available before making a decision because DMPs (aka debt management plans) are also a popular choice in the United Kingdom.

IVA Guidelines

An IVA is a way of reducing your debts to a manageable level, without having to go bankrupt or take out any additional credit, in most cases some of your debt is written off.

It is a quick and easy way to help you become debt-free.

IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement and is a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors to pay back the money you owe with an affordable monthly repayment over a period of (usually) 5 years.

The single, affordable monthly IVA repayment is based on your disposable income and budget.

During the period of the IVA, your creditors must freeze any interest on the debts, and they are not allowed to pursue the debt or instigate any legal action to recover it.

At the end of your Individual Voluntary Arrangement, assuming all the requirements of the IVA have been satisfactorily met, all of the debts are cleared and effectively written off and you become debt-free.

Pros

• Creditors who vote against your proposal are still bound by it.
• Creditors whose lending is unsecured can’t take any further action.
• Interest is usually frozen as long as you keep up your payments.
• Your insolvency practitioner will help you prepare your proposal, including agreeing on the level of your household and personal spending based on guidelines acceptable to creditors.
• Many insolvency practitioners will allow you to pay their fees for preparing your proposal monthly, as part of the IVA.
• You make only a single payment each month or quarter. Your insolvency practitioner is responsible for administering and distributing your payments.
• The terms of an IVA will usually enable you or your spouse or partner or relative to make arrangements to buy your share of the net worth of your home or to make extra payments, rather than the home having to be sold. This may be done through a remortgage or a loan. (Net worth means its value after any debts secured on it have been paid.)
• On completion of the IVA, the balance of what you owe your creditors is written off.
• You may be able to continue running any business you have.
• Your IVA is entered on a public register.
• The insolvency practitioner may require payment in advance for preparing your proposal and getting your creditors’ agreement.
• If there is some equity (value) in your home after taking account of the mortgage(s) on it, you will probably have to pay for your share, usually in the fifth year of your IVA, by remortgaging the property. If you can’t get a remortgage, you may have to continue making monthly or quarterly payments from your income, for up to another year.
• If your circumstances change, and your practitioner can’t get creditors to accept amended terms, the IVA is likely to fail. You will then still owe your creditors the full amount of what you owed them at the start, less whatever has been paid to them under your IVA.
• If your IVA fails, you may be made bankrupt.

Cons

• Your IVA is entered on a public register.
• The insolvency practitioner may require payment in advance for preparing your proposal and getting your creditors’ agreement.
• If there is some equity (value) in your home after taking account of the mortgage(s) on it, you will probably have to pay for your share, usually in the fifth year of your IVA, by remortgaging the property. If you can’t get a remortgage, you may have to continue making monthly or quarterly payments from your income, for up to another year.
• If your circumstances change, and your practitioner can’t get creditors to accept amended terms, the IVA is likely to fail. You will then still owe your creditors the full amount of what you owed them at the start, less whatever has been paid to them under your IVA.
• If your IVA fails, you may be made bankrupt.

All UK Insolvency Practitioners

Here is a full list of Insolvency Practitioners in the UK:

• Abbotts Insolvency Review
• Anchorage Chambers Insolvency Review
• Angel Advance Insolvency Review
• Best CVA Companies
• Best DAS Companies
• Best Full and Final Companies
• Best Insolvency Practitioners
• Best IVA Companies in Manchester
• Best IVA Companies UK
• Best Sequestration Companies
• Best Trust Deed Companies
• Creditfix Insolvency Review
• Debt Champion Insolvency Review
• Debt Consolidation Companies
• Debt Focus Insolvency Review
• Debt Relief Order Companies
• Debtfree4me Insolvency Review
• DMP Companies
• Financial Support Systems Insolvency Review
• Forest King Insolvency Review
• Freeman Jones Insolvency Review
• Gregory Pennington
• Hanover Insolvency Review
• Jarvis Insolvency Review
• Johnson Geddes Insolvency Review
• McCambridge Duffy Insolvency Review
• MoneyPlus Insolvency Review
• PayPlan Insolvency Review
• Re10 Finance Insolvency Review
• Spencer Rowe Insolvency Review
• The Debt Advisor Insolvency Review
• Unity Corporation Insolvency Review
• Vanguard Insolvency Review
• X Debt Insolvency Review

The insolvency practitioner list above gives you plenty of options to choose the best IVA firm in November 2024.