What is meant by a Government IVA?
Why do people use the expression 'Government IVA'?
After all, the Government doesn't have any involvement in the IVA process or the administration of IVAs. So why do people link the Government with IVAs at all?
Insolvency Act 1986
The reason that people refer to Government IVAs is because IVAs form part of an Act of Parliament.
Introduced as a formal alternative to bankruptcy as part of the 1986 Insolvency Act, the law governing IVAs forms part of the UK's statute which our Government is constitutionally obliged to protect and uphold as part of their duty.
Democratic process
As a function of our democracy, any proposed changes to the statute require Parliament's blessing and, as you'd expect with a democracy, the Members of Parliament would be given chance to vote on the changes before any are made.
As a result, changes to the statute are usually drawn out affairs, with MPs engaging in months of debate before any proposals are voted on. This provides a tremendous degree of stability to the IVA structure.
IVA Protocol
This stability was further enhanced with the introduction of the IVA protocol in February 2008.
There was an industry wide acceptance that the IVA process needed to evolve and be brought up to date, in order to better reflect the needs of all parties.
After a few years of discussions and consultations, the IVA Protocol was agreed and introduced.
Consequently, all parties now have better and fairer terms and conditions under the IVA protocol, with a larger percentage of IVAs completing successfully than ever before.
Government concerns
The Insolvency Service, the government department for insolvency, voiced concerns over some marketing companies advertising IVAs as Government backed schemes.
Similarly, the OFT believes some people are being misled through such advertising and may, ultimately, find themselves being subjected to poor standards of debt advice, typically delivered by the companies using such techniques.
If you feel you've been approached in such a manner you should contact My IVA Adviser. We will help you establish whether, in fact, you qualify for an IVA, and the suitability of an IVA, before you become the victim of bad advice.
Professional IVA Advice
If you would like to explore the IVA process further, then please take a look at our IVA articles, written to help you come to understand the different aspects on IVAs.
The team behind My IVA Adviser are IVA specialists. We provide personalised IVA consultations to anyone who's interested in exploring how an IVA would work when applied specifically to their personal circumstances.
Please call My IVA Adviser on 0800 088 7503 to arrange your consultation or, alternatively, complete this form and one of the team will call you at your preferred time.