Yes - You can do an IVA if you are self-employed.
Being self-employed and running your own business does not stop you applying for an IVA.
Being self employed is one of the most rewarding experiences a person can have. There is nothing quite so challenging as trying to creating a profitable business, and facing the day to day challenges that come with making sure the business succeeds.
But the financial pressures of being self employed can be extreme, and when circumstances conspire against you, it can be all too easy to find yourself facing a financial black hole of debt.
Cash flow is incredibly important to any size business, but particularly the smaller self employed ‘one man band’ business - for, just because trade maybe slow and the business turnover maybe down, the bills don’t stop arriving, and the business expenses still need to be met.
And this highlights one of the undoubted downsides to being self employed, for the business’s debt is actually the business owners ‘personal’ debt, so when trade necessary to keep up with the debt repayments falls away, the pressure is on the individual.
So how could an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) help you if you are self employed, running a small business and struggling with large debt and a reduced income?
Well, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) maybe able to give you the breathing space from your creditors - which in turn will enable you to keep your business trading, where other alternatives may not.
IVAs are designed to assist people who are experiencing serious financial problems and even the smaller, self employed business person can take advantage of an IVA - so long as an IVA is in their best interests.
And creditors will allow a business to continue, so long as the business is still viable, after all, it will be the creditors who also benefit from allowing business to survive, as they realise more of the outstanding debt will be repaid through an IVA than would be repaid if they made the individual bankrupt.
You can download the free guide “The truth about IVAs” for full details, but here’s a brief outline of how they work.
IVA’s allow the applicant to re-negotiate with all their creditors, one affordable monthly repayment, to replace the normal monthly contributions to their debt. The IVA lasts for a set period of time, usually 5 years, and when the IVA is completed the IVA applicant is debt free.
Even if the applicant hasn’t repaid all of the debt in full by the end of the IVA, the creditors are obliged to write off any outstanding balance. What’s more, whilst the IVA is in force, the creditors must freeze the interest on the debt, and cannot take any legal action against the IVA applicant.
So, if you are self employed with personal, unsecured debt in excess of £15,000, which is owed to more than 3 different creditors, and you are unable to maintain your monthly minimum repayments, then an IVA might be the solution you have been looking for.
For a free, confidential chat about how an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) may be a suitable solution for your circumstances, whether you are self employed or not, call My IVA Adviser on 0800 088 7503 and ask how an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) can help the self employed.
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