Insolvency can creep up on you and take you by surprise. You may think that you are in control of your finances and that, even if you have some personal debt, you are managing to pay it back bit-by-bit. The worry really comes when your income drops, or the interest rates rise, or you decide to stretch yourself again; perhaps to buy a new car, to pay for a wedding or to treat your family to a special holiday. There's nothing to be gained from getting further into debt except a lot of personal stress trying to get out of it again. Insolvency is a serious problem, but you could turn the tide by looking at the IVA option.

How can an IVA solve my insolvency problems?

An IVA, or Individual Voluntary Arrangement, allows you to bring your debts back under control. It's something that you should only consider when you know that insolvency is round the corner because you have serious debt problems. If you owe a few hundred pounds on your credit card, it's not worth taking out an IVA, but if you're having trouble meeting your mortgage and utility bills, you have several credit or store card debts and you're being threatened with repossession or bankruptcy, you need to talk to someone about an IVA as soon as possible. An IVA will help you to:

• Keep your creditors happy – if at least 75% of your creditors agree to your IVA, they will receive an agreed monthly payment from you. No interest rates will apply and so the amount you pay will be the same for the whole term of the IVA. Your creditors know that they will be getting some repayment on their loan to you.

• Keep your finances in check – instead of trying to pay a large number of creditors each month, you will just have to make one monthly payment. This payment will be made to an administrator, who will then divide the money up between your creditors.

• Clear your debts for good – and IVA lasts for five years, and you must make each monthly payment for this period. Once the five years are over, your debts will be treated as cleared by your creditors. An IVA may not be as fast as bankruptcy, which discharges your debts in a single year, but it is a far safer option for you, as you can retain control over your property, income and other assets.

• Find peace of mind – being in debt places you and those around you under an enormous strain. An IVA lets you stop worrying about your debts and concentrate on the other important things in your life.

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.