If you are in the last few months of your IVA, you will be looking forward to making that last payment. It may feel a lot like getting to the finishing line of a marathon – and you may not be running so much as staggering over it.
But when should you cancel your standing order? How long does it take to get your completion certificate?
And when exactly are your debts written off, and how long until your credit record is clean?
This article looks at what happens at the end of an IVA.
Contents
Are you sure that is your last payment?
With a simple five or six year IVA, possibly with a further twelve months added instead of a remortgage, you may know exactly when your 60th or 72nd payment is going to be made.
But sometimes it’s less clear:
- there may be some payments outstanding if you had a payment break or extra months were added because of additional income;
- admin problems can happen – especially if your IVA has been transferred to a different firm so there is more chance that payments are outstanding;
- if you have a house but your IVA firm hasn’t spoken to you about releasing equity, don’t assume an extra year isn’t needed.
So it’s worth checking with your IVA firm a couple of months before “the end” that March 2023 or whenever really will be your last payment.
If your IVA confirms that is your last payment, you can cancel the Direct Debit or Standing order (or tell your bank by phone to end the Continuous Payment Authority).
It’s a good idea though to try to put a couple of months more payments into a savings account in case the final review (see below) turns up something.
A final review by your IVA firm
Your IVA firm will do a final review. Most firms have a special Closure Team that deals with this. Some firms do the review in the last couple of months, but many wait until after your final payment.
This is a bit like your annual reviews. Some firms ask for bank statements, payslips or a P60. They want to check if you had a lot of overtime, a pay rise, a bonus or some other windfall that you haven’t told them about. If you have, you may have to make some additional payment.
Hopefully after this, the firm will confirm that no more payments are needed.
What if they don’t get in contact?
If you haven’t heard from your IVA firm a couple of weeks week after your last payment, I suggest phoning or emailing them. Ask what you need to provide for the final review. The more you are proactive at this stage, the quicker this will all be over.
If they still don’t talk to you, then send them a weekly email. After a month put in a formal complaint.
If you want to cancel your payments in this situation, do put the money you would have transferred into a separate savings account. Don’t spend it! That way if it turns out there is still some money owing, you have it right there.
Your IVA firm starts the closure process
Once the Closure team confirms that you have made all the payments, they will distribute the last money to your creditors.
This closure procedure should in theory take a month or two. But there were major delays a few years ago caused by the IVA firm wanting to make PPI claims. And in 2022 things are getting worse again – over three months is common and some are over six months.
If your Completion Certificate hasn’t arrived after three months, I suggest asking every few weeks what is happening and whether you need to provide any more information.
If it gets to five months after your last payment, put in a formal written complaint to your IVA firm. At six months put in a complaint to the Insolvency Service about the delay in closing your IVA.
What happens when the IVA is finally completed
At last you will get your Completion Certificate!
At this point:
- Your IVA is over. The last payment – sometimes called “the final dividend” – has been sent to your creditors and the remainder of your debts have been written off.
- Your IVA firm will update the Insolvency Register. Your name stays on the register showing as “completed” for three months, then the entry is deleted.
- The Insolvency Register sends the information that your IVA has completed to the three Credit Reference Agencies. The IVA marker will remain on your credit records until 6 years from the start of your IVA. or until it is completed, whichever is later.
- If you have a house, your IVA firm will remove the restriction placed at the Land Registry so you can sell it.
This doesn’t look like an official certificate. It is just a letter on normal paper. But it’s very important – you should aim to keep this not just for a few months but forever. It is your proof that your IVA has finished – it may be hard to get a replacement if you need it in several years time, especially if your IVA firm no longer exists.
Check everything has been updated
You should check that the whole completion process has worked properly. This normally works fine but it’s sensible to check up on it.
Leave it a couple of weeks and then look up your details on the Insolvency Register – if this isn’t correct, call your IVA firm and ask them to correct it. Until this is corrected, your credit records won’t be updated.
Once the Insolvency register has been updated, wait another few weeks and check:
- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – you do need to check all three credit reference agencies. Check the statutory reports from the CRAs as they are updated daily – most free reports are a snapshot taken once a month. If your IVA still shows as active, send a copy of your Completion Certificate to the credit reference agency and ask them to correct it.
- Land Registry – if the restriction is still showing, call your IVA firm. Make sure you do this. If you find out in 12 years time when you want to sell your house that the restriction is still there and your IVA firm has gone bust years ago and you can’t find your certificate any more you will have a major hassle getting this resolved.
And you need to wait another month or two to give your creditors time to update their records.
So that’s the end. Except…
You can start the process of cleaning up your credit file, see How to improve your credit rating after an IVA for details. This will ensure that your defaulted debts disappear when they should and that new credit starts to improve your credit score.
You shouldn’t hear from your IVA firm again. There are two exceptions.
- you may be sent a cheque for “uncashed dividends”. This is rare and it is good news if it happens to you. If this happens, your IVA firm will explain why – there normally isn’t anything you have to do except cash the cheque.
- the other one is lingering claims that your IVA firm may have made. Most PPI claims have now ended, but some IVA firms are trying to collect on a variety of other claims including affordability and pension mis-selling. You may still get some correspondence about these.
If you have a house, some people are reporting being contacted by a lender offering a remortgage or a secured loan after a few months. These are usually expensive bad credit lenders – you should think twice about doing this, especially with cost of living problems continuing. It may be better to wait a bit longer and clean up your credit record some more.
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Carla says
Can the IVA take your name off the gov IVA register before the 3months this there is a mistake with the completion date.
This is taken us 7years with no breaks in payments, the company keeps giving us misleading dates of when it’s ended. Our last payment was December 2022
Sara (Debt Camel) says
has this IVA been completed? That means the IVA firm has formally made its checks and issued a certificate of completion?
Carla Bradbury says
Yes it’s completed but still on the register and we keep getting misleading date on when it will come up. My question is if my complaint is proven can they take my name off the register immediately?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is your complaint that the date of completion is wrong?
carol says
hi,
I was still on the register for quite a while, think it was around 7 months before my details were taken off the register.
Hope this helps
Tom says
Hi, I had an IVA that was started in July 2016 and completed in December 2020. My credit report stated that this had been settled and I have the completion certificate. I have since checked my credit file on Equifax, Clearscore & Credit Karma and all of them no longer list my insolvency on my report. I have recently applied for a business banking account to start my own business and they have emailed my stating there has been a flag to show a record of insolvency on my credit file and i need to provide the completion certificate.
Although this is no issue, as i have the document. My question is how can they see this information as i cannot? As far as i can tell, this should no longer be visible on my credit file?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you checked Experian – MSE Credit Club is a free report on Experian data.
Is the bank you are applying to related to any of the creditors in your IVA?
Tom says
Yes I have checked the others and none of them list my IVA under the public record information. I have applied to to a bank account which I did have a credit card with that was included in my IVA.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that is how they know about the IVA.
Send them your completion certificate or apply to a different bank.
Tom says
Ah yea I guess so… do you know if it would affect any kind of credit or loan I would look to take out with them in the future? Probably best I apply elsewhere right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely – there are no limitations on how long banks can keep their internal records.
SpyderTracks says
I’ve just had my completion certificate through yesterday on a 5 year IVA. What an absolute relief! I was initially with Vanguard who then got bought out by Ebenegate. Ebenegate were absolutely dreadful, in the last year, they never responded to my emails, I had a bonus in December and asked them to clarify the amount I needed to pay them, in the end I just went by my own sums as they never responded. Then they were supposed to contact me in April to start my closure process, but I heard nothing after repeated emails and letters. In the end, I contacted Kevin Thallon who has been so incredibly helpful since Ebenegate took over. Within a day I had a huge apology from a senior manager at CreditFix (who own Ebenegate) and then the next day had my closure certificate and report. I’m going to leave Kevins email because he really is the only way I was able to communicate with Ebenegate kevin.thallon@ebenegate.co.uk
So now just have to wait for the insolvency register to update and then will send my completion report to the 3 credit agencies.
I have to say a huge thank you to Sara. I’ve found this site so incredibly helpful and has settled my nerves no end, getting any guidance from Ebenegate or Vanguard just resulted in being ghosted.
I wish any of you on this journey the best of success.
Emma says
If they have confirmed they’re not waiting for anything and all creditors have provided their information, what’s the delay in producing my certificate. I paid mine off in April and I’ve still not had it and they won’t tell me anything as they’ve said it can still take 6 months. It’s so stressful and leaving me so anxious! I don’t understand why they won’t explain what’s taking so long! Can I do anything?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is your IVA firm?
Emma says
Bennett Jones
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, I don’t have a contact there to ask.
I suggest you put in a formal complaint in writing. email info@bennettjonesinsolvency.co.uk with COMPLAINT as the title.
Donna says
I’m still waiting finished 28th April
SpyderTracks says
Hi Sara
I’m a little confused, by your summary and what I’m seeing on Equifax and other credit agencies, they get their information from the Insolvency Register which for my account is still showing as active. I’ve called Creditfix to ask them to update the insolvency register, 2 agents have told me it’s for me to contact the credit reference agencies with my certificate of completion, and that will update the insolvency register? Are they correct in this?
Thanks for your time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did you get your completion certificate?
SpyderTracks says
2 weeks ago today
Jay says
my IVA is due to end in September and I am anxious about how the final review works. I have been asked to provide May June and July and as it is so soon nearing the end that annual review is also my final review. During those 3 months I used clearpay (unregulated credit that is buy now pay later) to buy some clothes for my son using his DLA money/money my mum has given me to help out. This will show up on my bank statement and now I am worried I will fail. I haven’t been able to take out mobile phone contracts or insurance for my car during my IVA due to bad credit so I assumed as it let me do this it was fine. I am now reading into the terms etc of my IVA and it says not to of taken out further credit or at least without asking and I am unsure if this will cause me to fail. The amount in total was £170 across 3 months so not a huge amount and have paid it all off just like weeks apart as it helped out when uniform was needed and school shoes before day day. What will happen and can you advise what’s best to do? Would I fail based on this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The common clause in an IVA relating to more credit is something like:
You must not obtain any further credit greater than £500 without the prior written approval of your Supervisor, except for public utilities and to refinance any balloon payment at the end of a vehicle Hire Purchase Agreement. If you do obtain credit of more than £500 without the consent of your Supervisor, this will constitute a breach of your arrangement.
£170 on BNPL is very very unlikely to be a problem. Just send your bank statements across.
Jay says
Thank you for getting back to me. I read my terms and it didn’t say what you have stayed above it says:
13. Can I obtain additional credit whilst I am in an IVA?
Generally speaking the answer is “No”. Your creditors will only agree to your IVA on the understanding that
you will not obtain further credit. The main purpose of an IVA is to provide you with affordable repayment
terms and further credit could hinder your ability to maintain your IVA payments.
The situation is slightly more complicated when it comes to secured debts, such as mortgages and vehicle Hire
Finance, and we would advise you on a case by case basis.
This is in my IVA proposal unless there is some other terms I should access?
I am so very near the end and have stuck to a tight budget and had help from my boyfriend and mum to afford clothes and other such things for my son until he was awarded DLA and every year my review has gone through and passed so just feeling a bit worried IV ruined it all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a simple explainer of your IVA, not the actual terms and conditions.
What does it say on the first page?
Who is your IVA firm?
Jay says
It is Bennett Jones. I can’t seem to find the terms. Are they generic or does everyone have them adjusted for their individual circumstances and contracts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is they use what are called the standard protocol terms – which is what I quoted from. I really don’t think you will have a problem here. An IVA firm actually wants to get people so near the end through to completion if possible.
Lee says
Hi, mine has just been signed off and I had car finance. No questions asked. I have waited 6 months for the certification but it’s all done now.
Callum says
I am 15 months off the end of my IVA and am getting more and more anxious about this final review and I’m so far out still
I’ve heard horror stories regarding the final 12 months of an IVA being made to extend or just generally being difficult or trying to get you to fail. Would you say this is true in most cases or just certain?
Also how in depth is the final review? Will they want pay slips, bank statements and P60 of my entire 5 year IVA or will it just be like any other annual review (which I have had one every 12 months).
I have received the 2 £1000 backdated pay rises throughout my IVA which I didn’t declare and went through an annual review as it was just in line with the cost of living at that time. Will things like that crop up, and if yes will I be able to justify them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
IVA firms have no interest in getting IVAs failed.
You only tend to see comments from people who have problems, not from those whose closure goes through easily.
What your IVA firms asks for depends on their procedures. If you have not informed them of backdated pay rises, I cannot guess if these are significant. At the end of your 4 year review, make sure they are aware of anything that has happened during the year.
SpyderTracks says
Just to strongly reiterate what Sara has said (speaking from my own experience), I didn’t even have a final year annual review, but made all my payments in time. I’d the payrise backdates weren’t mentioned in the annual review then they’ve been accepted and signed off as such. I was very anxious about completion but it was actually far smoother than expected.
Emma Butler says
Hi,
Hoping you can clear something up for me. I’ve made my full and final payment but have worked it all out myself and I’ve over paid by £542.00. When I spoke to Ebengate (and that was hard to get though) back in July they said any over payment would be paid back to me. I can’t get an answer from anyone at the IVA company any one got any suggestions?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which IVA firm is this? Have you had the final review?
Emma Butler says
Yes final review has taken place and the iva is with Ebengate used to be vanguard, I will see if I have any luck the other company mentioned.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try emailing Samantha.Warburton@creditfix.co.uk
SpyderTracks says
If you check your listing on https://www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register you’ll likely find a credit fix agent is dealing wirh your case, they own ebenegate. Ebenegate were absolutely useless for me and never responded, credit fix were far better
Emma Butler says
Thank you I will do
Matthew says
Hello I know this is unrelated to the thread but here goes.
Im currently employed on a salary.
Im about to become self employed and more than lightly going to earn less than I was.
Does this impact my Iva at all?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How far into your IVA are you? How large are the payments? Do you have a house with equity or a car worth more than 2k?
Matthew says
Hello my Iva ends may 2025 – my regular payment is £210 per month – my car is worth about 4k which I own – I’m also a homeowner with about 50-60k equity and once I get to may 2025 I would have been in Iva 6 years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When does your mortgage fix end?
How affordable is the 210 at the moment, before possible income drop?
Matthew says
Fixed for another 4 years – it’s affordable atm
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was this change of job forced as you lost your previous one or because the hours were cut? Or did you just fancy a change?
Matthew says
Company I worked for were struggling and we’re getting rid of staff so I think it would have only been a matter of time before they got rid of me- so rather than wait to be sacked I’ve been pro active lol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well I hope you don’t regret this. It may have been better to have had a few more months on the staff and knocked some more time off the IVA.
If you can pay some 5ing but not 210 you can ask for a review and to have you payments reduced. If you can’t pay anything you need to either ask for a payment break for 6 months say until you can’t or for your IVA to be completed on the basis of the funds paid to date. That might have been easier to get approved by your creditors if you had been made redundant in 6 months time…
Graeme says
My IVA is due to end in April 2025 and just had my yearly review.
I have about 30k in equity in my home and in the review email it says “Property: Terms of the proposal explain how this will be included in the IVA” and then also final dividend is dependant on amount received from property.
Does this mean I’ll be forced to remortgage if accepted by the mortgage company? If its not accepted does that mean I will have to pay another 12mnth into IVA?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry lots of questions!
How much is your property worth? Are you the sole owner? Is this a help to buy or a shared ownership? Is this interest only or a repayment mortgage?
How much are you paying to your IVA a month and is that affordable?
When does your current mortgage fix end? How old are you?
Graeme says
No worries and thank you for replying.
Its repayment mortgage, house is worth around 80k and I’m the owner living with wife and children, wifes name isnt on the mortgage.
Pay around 270 at the moment which is fine and affordable.
Fixed mortgage ends in 2025 and I’m 38.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large are your current mortgage payments?
How large were the debts that went into your IVA?
How many children do you have?
Graeme says
Around 220 per month, over 30k went into IVA and I have 3 children
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So assuming standard IVA terms, when the equity release decision is made:
– you have to be left with 15% of the equity, so about 12k if your house value is accurate at that point
– the extra monthly costs can’t be more than 50% of your monthly IVA payments. This is why it is good to ask for your IVA payments to be reduced if you had a good reason.
– most people can’t get a remortgage and may have to take an expensive secured loan instead
– in a year or so when it’s clearer what your new mortgage fix rate would be, you may be able to argue that a secured loan would be unaffordable, in which case you would have to just pay the IVA for one more year.
Lesley says
I took out a full and final IVA with PayPlan in November last year (2022). I am still waiting for my completion certificate. I’m self-employed and when I queried the delay Payplan said this delay was due to my creditors not claiming their portion of the funds, namely HMRC. They advised me that I should submit my latest tax return (April 2022 to March 2023), which I did about 2/3 weeks ago. I’ve been very happy with PayPlan but I wanted some independent advice as to whether it is acceptable to have to wait this long for the IVA to complete. Do all creditors have to claim their funds before the completion certificate is isssued, regardless of the length of time since the full and final IVA was taken out and all money paid? Many thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some creditors are very slow with this. Normally this gets sorted out during he life of the IVA and you are unaware of it. But with a “full and final settlement” IVA, there was no “life of the IVA” it all has to be sorted out before the IVA is closed.
I suggest you send PayPlan a complaint if it gets to the one year mark.
A R says
Good Morning,
I would like to get some information about Scottish Trust Deed which is I believe similar to IVA? Once this is completed and you received completion/satisfied certificate, how long will it to the debt to be removed from credit file? Do we have to inform CRA’s or they do this automatically?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes a PTD is the Scottish equivalent. but I don’t know enough about them to be confident about the answer to your question – I suggest you ask it on this website from a Scottish adviser: https://www.advicescotland.com/home/protected-trust-deed/
Darek says
Hi all, my last payment was in April, end of April so since May it’s 6 months now and still nothing from my IVA company (Creditfix). I contacted creditfix month ago, they said they have delays but my case is on last closing stage.
I keep checking my credit score, all debts are dissappear but obviously still showing my IVA. My wife it’s the same situation, but there still is one credit card,l saying IN DEFAULT.
Any suggestions pls because it’s getting on my nerves now, I thought the whole process ov being on IVA will ne stressful, but I think now it’s worse.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you wait another month and then make a formal complaint.
The defaulted card on your wife’s credit record – what default date does it show?
Darek says
Hi, thanks for the reply.
On the credit card there is date of 21 September, exactly “UPDATED 21 SEPTEMBER”.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what report are you looking at?
Darek says
Clear Score.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so look at your Equifax statutory credit report , see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/ which has a link to it. That report is oftne clearer to read – ther should be a default date against that debt of your wife’s. What is it?
Lily says
Hi,
I had this problem but it was sorted. I got my certificate no problem.
I then emailed all agencies and had all of the remaining creditors taken off including the IVA and now I’m all clear.
It will be better soon. Just keep checking in with creditfix. I wish you all the bestx
Kris says
Hoping someone can help me here. My partner had an IVA before she met me and this has just ended. When she was living by herself she struggled financially and ended up with an IVA but over the past 4 years she has paid it all off but also because we are now together she has also managed to accrue savings in her current account amounting to a few thousand pounds. The IVA company have now asked for her payslips and bank statements as part of the closure of her IVA but she is worried all her savings may get taken off her. Is this likely?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has the IVA firm done annual reviews? How long have you been living together?
Katie says
Hi
I’m in an IVA and have just made my final payment to them this month.
They’ve already had my last 3 payslips & P60, I’ve not heard anything back (IVA due to finish this month after 5 years)
If I’ve ended up paying more than the original agreement, would I get any of that back?
Or is it all set against th creditors?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You will only get any money back if you have paid more than the total of debts that went into the IVA plus the IVA fees.
Sally says
When I came to the end of my IVA, I was told that any over-pay would go the the creditors as interest on the original debt. However, one of my creditors did refund the over-payment to me a year or so later, after they had discovered it during an audit. Not sure if this helps?
Mel says
Hi my final Iva payment was this week, I just wondered how long it is until we are allowed to try obtain credit again? Do we have to wait so long after the final Iva payment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have to wait until you get the completion certificate.
Mel says
That’s fine thank you I had tried asking the company but didn’t get a clear answer
Darek says
Hi Sarah. Regarding my IVA which is already 7 months after my last payment, where I can make a Formal complaint? My iva company or someone else. I spoke with them yesterday and they said “we will contact you next 2 weeks”, they saying this every month.
Thanks
Darek
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is your IVA firm?
Darek says
Creditfix, don’t know if you remember there’s was some credit card in DEFAULT on my wife file, that’s dissappear finally, but always when I call and ask for update they just have no clue what to say.
Thanks
Samantha Warburton says
Hi Derek
Please can you send through your details to me directly so that I may look into your case and resolve matters for you. My email address is samantha.warburton@creditfix.co.uk.
Kind raegrds
Sam