Published in Debt Advice Features on Friday, March 30 2007

The Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a debt solution that was brought in under the Insolvency Act in 1986 essentially by the government as a way to help people with their debts. This Government backing can be very reassuring, but because of the legalities of it there are many aspects that have to be adhered to.

First of all to enter an Individual Voluntary Arrangement you have to be insolvent, this would be proved by a detailed income and expenditure, for which you will need proof in the way of bank statements, utility bills, mortgage statements etc. Also to prevent fraud and other such issues you are usually asked to provide identification. Expenses for a car can be high and so proof of that vehicle is needed in the way of the V5 document or the log book for example. This is so you haven’t tried to make your situation look worse than it is by putting false figures in.

Your assets may be investigated and your income will need to be proved. This is not just for the creditors and the legalities, but the Insolvency Practitioner representing you has to be sure you are being honest and are insolvent as they vouch officially for you in court and if you are found out to be acting fraudulently it is the Insolvency Practitioner who would lose his or her license.

Processing these documents can take time, and so you should try to so-operate as much as possible with this process.