Your home could be at risk if you fail to keep up your payments. Words to that effect can be found on every mortgage agreement, and on any loan agreement that's secured on your home. It's the sort of thing we take for granted and never thing about again – until you face financial difficulty and the threats of repossession start falling through the letterbox. If you have real financial problems, you could avoid losing your home by choosing to take out an IVA.

Does an IVA guarantee that I'll keep my home?

Unfortunately, although most people who take out an IVA keep their property, it can't be guaranteed. What can be guaranteed, however, is that your IVA administrator will look at every possible way of letting you keep your home. This is in direct contrast to a repossession order or a bankruptcy proceeding, where you lose all control over your property. The most important thing to remember is that this level of debt is dangerous, and you need to find the best way possible to deal with it. In most cases, an IVA works best.

How can an IVA help me?

An IVA is a legal arrangement that allows you to come to a deal with your creditors. For some people, this may just be their mortgage lender; for others, it's a combination of credit cards, loans and finance agreements. The idea behind an IVA is that your creditors are brought together, and agree on a monthly payment – something you can afford – which guarantees that they will get some money each month for the term of the IVA, which is usually five years. You commit to paying that monthly amount – and you must keep to those payments, because if you default at any time, your creditors are entitled to consider applying for a bankruptcy order against you. Indeed, an IVA is your last real chance to get your money sorted out.

What do I do next?

If you are already facing the threat of repossession, you need to talk to an IVA insolvency specialist right away. They will be able to look at your situation and contact your lender to see if they would accept and IVA arrangement. The IVA needs to cover all your debts, not just your mortgage or secured loans, so you need to provide your adviser with the names of every lender you owe money to. Once you have done that, and IVA can be put in place within 4-6 weeks, helping you to get your finances back on track.

Varden Nuttall has been established for over 15 years and is dedicated to helping people in financial difficulty find a solution through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Employing 90 people, including trained and skilled IVA administrators, we are one of the largest IVA companies in the UK and handle over 3% of all IVA applications. To find out more about the company, or to make an appointment to talk about putting an IVA in place, call us today on 0800 031 9802 or fill in our online enquiry form.