Last updated: 14/11/2023 | Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

What happens to my home, assets and job during an IVA?

An individual voluntary arrangement, or IVA, is a debt solution that involves a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors to stick to a reduced payment plan over an extended term.

An IVA can be of great help if used correctly, but it’s worth bearing in mind the potential effects one might have on your assets, home and employment before you choose to take one out.

In This Guide:

• Home
• Assets
• Future assets and income
• Employment

Home

If you’re a homeowner and you want to take out an IVA, then the chances are that the insolvency practitioner presiding over your case will require you to have a valuation conducted on your property.

This is done to find out if there is any equity left in your property that can be cashed in and put towards your debt repayments.

Equity is essentially the cash value of your property once all of your secured debts like mortgages have been paid off. If you have a mortgage out on your house, and then the value increases, then you can remortgage the property to release the equity that has been created.

If your IP decides, after the valuation, that there is enough equity in your property for it to be worth you remortgaging, then you will be required to do so in order to raise some cash to start paying off what you owe.

Assets

There is no official requirement for any of your assets to be included in your IVA. You may decide though that it is worth selling off any assets you have with a decent enough re-sale value in order to raise a bit of extra cash to put towards repayment of your debts.

Your IP will help you work all of this out when the IVA is being set up and may well advise you to sell off certain possessions. You will need to manually exclude any assets you do want to keep from the IVA agreement.

Importantly though, you will never be required to get rid of any assets deemed necessary for day-to-day living, like clothes , furniture and cooking equipment.

Future assets and income

If, during the course of your IVA, your income increases, then you will need to inform your IP who may alter your payment plan accordingly.

Most IVAs come with a windfall clause, which means that any money or assets you unexpectedly receive during an IVA may have to be used towards repayments. This includes things like lottery winnings, inheritance or any bonus you might receive at work.

Employment

In most circumstances, your employment won’t be affected by your IVA. However, there are some occupations, like lawyers and accountants, bound by certain codes of conduct that mean that they are forbidden from entering IVAs or declaring bankruptcy.

If you think this may apply to you then you should go over your initial contract of employment in order to be certain.