Clearing Up the Question of IVA Fees

Much has been posted on blogs, forums and message boards on the subject of IVA fees. These threads suggest that there is a lot of confusion on the matter and that this is discouraging some people who might benefit from IVAs from finding out more.

This is a cause for concern because, in the right situation, an IVA can be an excellent way of clearing debt and often has advantages when compared to other solutions such as debt management and debt consolidation.

If an IVA proposal is successful, it results in debts being frozen and a certain percentage (up to 90%) of the debt being written off altogether. Furthermore they provide debtors with an affordable way of repaying their debt. They are also advantageous from a creditor’s perspective because they are significantly cheaper than bankruptcy proceedings.

Although different organisations take different approaches to the fee issue, Clear Start (one of the top 10 IVA providers in the UK) takes a very straightforward position on the subject.

They offer independent debt help, support and advice to all UK residents. This service is completely free of charge. They also do not charge any IVA application fees. In fact all debt advice services provided by Clear Start to individuals and households are free of charge.

So where does the company get its funding from? The answer is from creditor and panel partner contributions in order to reimburse the organisation for the costs of advice and processing.

Furthermore, the fees that are associated with setting up IVAs are paid for by the creditors not the debtors. They are taken out of the IVA fund created by the monthly re-payments made by the debtor.