Understanding your annual IVA review
IVA reviews form part of the IVA supervisor's duties and are normally undertaken by a member of the supervisory team, on an annual basis around the anniversary of your IVA's start date.
The purpose of the IVA review is to reassess the affordability of your IVA payments and to check that the surrounding circumstances of your case are updated.
What Is The Annual Review
Towards the end of each year of your IVA you will receive notification from your IVA's supervisory team that your review is due.
For a typical annual review you'll be required to provide proof of your income over the past 12 months, although your insolvency practitioner might only need to see your most recent 3 months wage slips and your P60.
You'll also be expected to provide copies of your most recent 3 months bank statements and provide a breakdown of your monthly household expenditure.
Using this information your supervisory team will undertake an assessment your IVA payments and determine whether they can continue at the same amount, or whether they need to change.
Preparing For Your First Review
For your very first review, you should locate a copy of your IVA proposal. Inside the proposal is a copy of your original household expenditure, which was presented to your creditors at the Creditors' Meeting.
These are the levels of expenditure that your creditors have already accepted that you need in order to support yourself and any dependents you may have.
These figures represent your starting point and should be used as a marker for your review. Where there have been increases to your living costs you should update the figures to reflect the new costs.
The IP's objective is to use the review to try and establish whether the difference between your income and expenditure has grown, therefore giving rise to a potential increase your IVA payments.
If you can afford to increase your payments, you will be expected to do so, but only by 50% of any extra affordability.
If there is no increase in affordability, then your IVA payment will stay the same.
If the gap between your income and expenditure has closed, then you may be able to request a payment reduction, although this is not guaranteed.
IVAs payments are based on affordability and, when necessary, the IP has the discretion to lower the payment.
Annual Review - Top Tip
You'll find it extremely useful to keep a copy of your budget figures in a safe place and mark any changes as they happen.
Then, each year, you'll be able to easily reference the changes to you household expenditure and have them ready for the next review.
