A monthly payment IVA normally lasts 5-6 years. However it may be possible to settle the Arrangement early if a lump sum can be raised.
Included in this article:
- How to settle and IVA early
- What amount of cash is required?
- Where can the money you need come from?
- Can you use a windfall you have received?
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How to settle an IVA early
Once a monthly payment IVA starts it usually lasts for 5-6 years. It is however possible to reduce this period. The Arrangement can be settled early with a lump sum.
While the Arrangement is running you can offer to pay your creditors a one off cash payment. In return they then agree that no further monthly payments will be required.
Once the cash is handed over the Arrangement is completed. The outstanding debt is written off and you are no longer bound by its terms.
Settling your IVA early means you have no further annual reviews of your circumstances. In addition any subsequent increases in income or windfalls you receive are yours to keep.
How much cash is needed to settle an IVA early?
The key question is how much cash will be required to settle the IVA. There is no one answer to this. The amount required is different in each case and will depend on your specific circumstances.
As a rule of thumb you will need to pay an amount equal to the total of your outstanding monthly payments. So for example if you are paying £200/mth and have 24 months to go you would need to offer £4800 (£200 x 24).
You circumstances may have changed meaning you are no longer in a position to maintain your IVA payments. In this situation your creditors may be prepared to accept a lower amount.
The amount required to settle your IVA must first be agreed with your IVA company. Most will consider a sum equivalent to your outstanding payments. However others may demand more.
Where can the money you need come from?
The cash required to settle your IVA early can come from a number of places. However it cannot be money that your creditors would normally be entitled to.
As such, the most common source is a gift or loan from a family member or friend. Money offered in this way is only available to your creditors to settle your Arrangement. In the absence of such an agreement they would not be able to get their hands on it.
If you are a home owner it may be possible to release equity from your property. If you can raise cash in this way your creditors will often be prepared to take this to settle the Arrangement immediately
Remortgaging to settle an IVA will require the assistance of a specialist broker. Call us (0800 077 6180) or complete the form below for help with this.
Can you use a Windfall to settle your IVA?
If you receive a windfall during your IVA it will normally have to be paid into the Arrangement in full. The injection of the extra funds does not reduce length of the agreement and you have to continue making your payments.
That said some windfalls can be used to to settle an IVA early in specific circumstances. One example of this is a redundancy payment. If you lose your job you may be able to offer the redundancy money you have received to settle your Arrangement.
However this will only be the case if it is clear you will be unable to get a new job (perhaps due to ill health or your age). Where you can get back into employment it is very different. You will be allowed to keep some of your redundancy money to maintain your living expenses and IVA payments. The rest will have to be paid into the Arrangement.
It is not usually possible to settle an IVA early after receiving a windfall. This money usually has to be paid into your Arrangement on top of your normal monthly payments.
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Hi,
I have ten months left of my 6th year of my IVA. I pay £100 per month so owe exactly £1000. A friend has told me if I’m in my final year I can pay off the outstanding balance with no questions asked, is this correct? If I do this will Creditfix carry out a final review on me?
Thanks
Hi Peter
If you want to settle your IVA early whether it is in the final year or not I would be very surprised if your IVA company did not ask any questions. Before deciding on a settlement figure they will normally want to do a review of your income and expenses to confirm that your disposable income has not increased since the last review. If it has clearly you would need to pay more than £1000.
Given this if you want to settle early you must speak to Credit Fix first and ask them how much they will need you to pay. I hear on a fairly regular basis that Credit Fix do not necessarily make things straight forward. The best thing to do is speak to them and go from there.
Remember if they refuse to accept the settlement offer you feel is reasonable you always have the option to just keep up with the monthly payments as agreed.
Hi
I am currently with credit fix and will start my 3rd year of payments in October 2019, I am currently paying 100% of my debt back as my income has increased and my payments went from £182 to £506 and now they are £819.
My question is if I am paying 100% of my debt back will my IVA finish early? Credit fix mentioned in a review last year that I need to keep an eye on what I have paid and call them to ask if I have hit the 100% or close to it because if I didn’t they could “accidentally” carry on taking payments… Is this correct? Will I pay it off earlier than the 5 years scheduled, because if I pay £819 for the next 2 years that equates to more than my original debt!!! Any help appreciated
Hi Sophie
The question you ask is very important. The terms and conditions of your IVA almost certainly state that if your income improves you are obliged to pay up to 100% of the original debt PLUS all of Credit Fix’s fees PLUS interest on the original debt charged at 8% pa from the start date of the IVA. If you do that before the normal 5 years are up then your IVA will then be completed and the payments of course will stop.
You should check this with Creditfix but I would be very surprised if they do not confirm it as it is absolutely standard. If they say otherwise demand they put it in writing for you. Given I am right, in your circumstances you will end up paying a more than you originally owed if you continue with the IVA. Creditfix’s fees and costs alone will be a number of £1000s
Normally the only way around this is to cancel your IVA and then pay the remainder of the debt off yourself. However if you have already paid for 3 years you might be better off sticking with it as a lot of the money you have already paid in will go towards Creditfix’s fees not paying your debt.
If I acquire money during my iva can I pay it off early?
Hi Lewis
If you acquire money during your IVA it is a windfall. You must tell your IVA company and you will have to pay the money into the arrangement. Normally the money cannot be used to pay off the Arrangement early. This only happens if the amount you have received is relatively large.