An individual voluntary arrangement is a process under the Insolvency Act 1986 which allows a debtor to put a scheme of arrangement to his or her creditors. The scheme will usually involve reduced or delayed payments against the debts. The arrangement requires the approval of the court, and comes under the control of a supervisor, who is a licensed Insolvency Practitioner. The individual voluntary arrangement can be used for an individual in respect of non-business debts, business debts (in the case of a sole trader) and for partnerships (where the partnership voluntary arrangement is essentially a series of interlocking individual voluntary arrangements).

Marlor Walls has considerable experience in dealing with IVAs for sole traders and partnerships. We utilise the iVa as the prime method of rescuing the business of, for example, a professional partnership where bankruptcy causes the loss of professional qualification and the ability to practice. This clearly prejudices future income generation which could go to the benefit of creditors. That in itself gives a good foundation for the submission of an IVA.

Click on the tabs for details of the various steps in an IVA

Basically the process takes the following course;

• You come to Marlor Walls for advice on your situation
  
• We advise on the appropriate course of action
  
• If an IVA is appropriate we will agree a timetable for preparing a proposal (at this stage we will also agree a fee which for obvious reasons must be paid before we proceed further)
  
• We will instruct solicitors to apply for an interim order giving a respite from creditors actions
  
• We will prepare the proposal with you and deal with circulating it and calling the meeting of creditors to approve the arrangement
  
• We will speak, where necessary, to the major creditors about the proposal
  
• If the proposal is approved we will act as supervisor of the arrangement

We take a great deal of time and care in looking for innovative and ground breaking solutions to this type of business problem, because of its tremendous importance to the individual. Be prepared to think out of the box!