Personal Rescue and Recovery

rescuing a business from administration

I will help put you back on the road to financial recovery

There are times when, as an individual, the pressure of debt can make you feel that it is impossible to solve your financial problems. However, if you tackle your debts early enough it is possible to rescue the situation and put yourself back on the road to recovery. My advice is always aimed at ensuring the best outcome for you as an individual without prejudicing your creditors.

 

individual voluntary arrangement

Under an individual voluntary arrangement (“IVA”) you make a formal deal with your creditors to pay back part or all of your debts over a period of time. This means you avoid bankruptcy and, if you are a sole trader, will help stop your business from failing.

Once an IVA is agreed, and only a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner can be the Supervisor of an IVA, you make agreed contributions from any spare income (or your profits, if you’re a sole trader) to pay back your creditors.

An IVA is particularly useful if bankruptcy would mean you risk losing professional qualifications or an operating license – if you are a solicitor or an estate agent, or a goods haulier for example. You must be totally honest about all your assets and liabilities when putting together proposals for an IVA – it is a criminal offence if you are not.

You may still be able to get an IVA even if you are bankrupt; then the bankruptcy will be cancelled and wiped off your credit record.

debt management plan

This is similar to an individual voluntary arrangement, but less formal, and can help sort out personal credit cards and loans. It is not really suitable for sole traders as debt management plans are not designed to deal with trading debts.

A debt management plan should be regarded as a temporary solution, offering the chance to reduce debt repayments until you are in a position to make full payments again or you can agree some sort of full and final settlement with creditors, which could be a more formal IVA. If it is not treated as a temporary solution, the plan can end up being open-ended and last for many, many years.

A specialist debt advisor will help you draw up a structured plan for repaying your unsecured debts (secured creditors are not included in this) and manage it on your behalf. All of your creditors will need to agree to the payment schedule and terms of the plan, the terms of which are tailored for your own circumstances. You can then stop paying your usual monthly repayments and instead give the agreed monthly payment to the person managing the plan who will then make regular payments to your creditors.

Due to changes in Regulation, ipd is unable to act for you to put together a debt management plan where some of your debts are related to Consumer Credit (e.g. credit cards, personal loans etc), but if you go to this Government website you can find more details of those organisations that can put a debt management plan together to deal with Consumer Credit debts.  We are unfortunately prevented by Regulation from recommending any particular organisation to you.

refinancing

This can be a good idea if your credit record is still quite healthy and you want to relieve the immediate pressure of hefty monthly repayments.

By consolidating the money you owe into a single debt and spreading the payment of this over a longer period, you can usually reduce the money you have to pay each month. The interest rate on a consolidation loan can be significantly lower, although it will take longer to pay off.

Due to changes in Regulation, we are unable to recommend any organisation or independent financial advisor to assist you with refinancing.  However, an internet search for “independent financial advisor” will provide details of those organisations who are specifically licensed to offer such advice on refinancing.

When we use the term “personal” this will apply to an individual person and will also include a sole trader who is not trading through a limited company. If you have traded using a limited company or in a partnership see the corporate information pages.