The pros and cons of living with an IVA

IVAs can be a very effective debt solution but only if they’re suited to your individual circumstances. If you’ve received professional and reliable debt advice before taking out an IVA then you should be fully aware of what’s involved.

Here we’ll take a look at what it’s like to live with an IVA once your proposal has been accepted by your creditors and the arrangement has begun.

• Luxuries – When your Insolvency Practitioner calculated your monthly contribution you will have been made aware that non-essential things like socialising and holidays can’t be included in your list of monthly outgoings. It may take some time to adjust initially to the terms of your IVA and get used to living on a budget.
• Managing your money – On the plus side, you’ll become accustomed to budgeting and managing your money in a much better way throughout the duration of your IVA. This will help you to stay debt free once you’ve been discharged from your IVA.
• IVAs and your family – If you have a partner and or children then living on budget will have an effect on them too. It’s important to keep them informed about what to expect once your IVA has started as you’ll have to cut back on things that impact on them either directly or indirectly.
• Future credit – You should be prepared that you won’t be able to take out any significant credit during the course of your IVA as this would jeopardise the legally binding agreement you have with your existing creditors. Typically, details of your IVA will remain on your credit file for 12 months after you’ve successfully completed it.
• The bigger picture – IVAs are not an easy answer to your debt problems. If at any point you’re wondering if it’s all worth it during the five years, then think about how stressed and anxious you were having the huge burden of debt on your shoulders and how great it will feel to be debt free at the end of your IVA, and ready to start your life with a clean slate.
  

These are just some of the ways in which living with an IVA could change your day to day living.

If you’re thinking about an IVA as a possible debt solution and are concerned about whether or not you can make it work then you can talk to one of our friendly debt advisers in confidence.

Call now on 08000 43 43 47 to discover if an IVA could be the solution to your debt problems or complete our IVA Wizard and see if you qualify for an IVA