Your debt problems are personal to you. The level of debt you have, the creditors you owe, the rates of interest you're being charged and the amount of money coming into your house all make your debts unique. This doesn't mean that you can't use a general solution to solve your problems, but it does mean that you need to get advice that takes your circumstances into account before you commit to anything.

How is IVA advice tailored to me?

If you're considering an Individual Voluntary Arrangement – and you should be if your debts run into tens of thousands and you have no way of paying them off – you need to speak to someone who's a specialist in arranging this type of solution. An IVA isn't right for everyone, and whether you can proceed with the arrangement or not depends on a number of factors:

• How much you owe – an insolvency adviser will look at the level of debt you have. IVAs have been introduced as an alternative to bankruptcy, so you have to be in serious debt before this solution will work for you.

• How much income you have – insolvency occurs when you simply have no way of paying back the money you owe. If you have sufficient spare income to continue paying your creditors, they are unlikely to agree to an Individual Voluntary Arrangement.

• The attitude of your creditors – by talking to your creditors, an adviser can determine whether they will be prepared to consider an IVA in your case. Some creditors may not, but as you only need 75% of your creditors to agree, it's important to make sure that they are all contacted and the right people spoken to so that you know whether it's worth going ahead with the agreement.

It's important that all these things are considered fully, and that you don't just jump in to an IVA without considering the long-term implications. An adviser will make it very clear that you have to be able to make your agreed monthly payments, and will spell out the consequences for missing any payments during the term. Tailored advice means that you know whether you can use this solution for your current situation or whether you need to make other arrangements to sort out your debts.

Varden Nuttall has been established for over 15 years and is dedicated to helping people in financial difficulty find an insolvency 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.