An IVA will last for a fixed period of time, normally no longer than 5 years.

 Once the IVA is agreed, your creditors by law are no longer allowed to demand payments from you either by telephone or letter.

 After the IVA has been put in place, your creditors cannot add further charges or interest to any of your accounts covered by the agreement by law.

 At the beginning of the arrangement, you agree with your creditors what you can afford to pay each month. In some cases, you can pay a one-off lump sum into the IVA.

 Once you have successfully completed your IVA you will be allowed to borrow money and your credit rating will start to improve. You will not be credit blacklisted for life.

 Once agreed, the IVA is legally binding (see glossary) on all the creditors. You will know exactly where you stand and exactly how long it will be before you are debt free.

 Once an IVA is in place, your creditors are not allowed to take further legal action against you as long as you stick to the terms of the arrangement.

 If you undertake an IVA, it is a private matter between yourself and your creditors. No publicity in the local papers. However your name can be searched in the insolvency    register which is available on the internet.
   See:http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/

 Regardless of your professional position (e.g. doctor, solicitor or accountant) you can carry out an IVA without any adverse effects to your job.

  If you have any equity in your property or any other significant valuable assets, you may be required to release some or all of this as part of the IVA agreement

 Normally you will only be able to undertake an IVA if your total unsecured debt is more than £15,000. In addition, you will need to be able to afford a monthly payment of at      least £180.

 Whilst you are in an IVA, you will not be able to use your store or credit cards. These must be cut up. However, it may be possible to change an existing mortgage or take a      new one while you are in an IVA. However you will be able to use prepaid cards.

 Failure to maintain control of your finances and keep up your IVA payments will mean that you may be bankrupted. However you may be able to take payment holidays and      you may be able to miss payments for extreme circumstances, but this will extend the period of you IVA.

 Your credit rating will not be as badly damaged as if you went bankrupt but you will still be unable to borrow for 5 years. You will also have a period after your IVA where it may      be hard to get credit. This period varies but should be less than a year.

 An IVA will last for 5 years compared to bankruptcy which will last for 3 years.

 In an IVA you will pay back about a significant amount of your debt (e.g. 40%-50%) as opposed to bankruptcy where you will pay back a minimum amount (which could be as      little as 0).

 All creditors must be included and you cannot make separate arrangements with each one (which can be done in a DMP)..

A debt management plan can provide you with some breathing space if yourdebt repayments have become overwhelming and you need time to sort out your financial situation.

The amount you pay to your debt management company every month will be calculated by looking at your overall income and expenditure. Your payments will be distributed amongst your creditors which mean that the pressure of phone calls chasing you for money will ease off and let you concentrate on getting your finances back on track.

In order to qualify for a debt management plan your debt should be at least £1,500. This should be between more than two creditors. It is essential that you have got a regular income from which to meet your monthly repayments to your debt management company for them to then share amongst your creditors.