Debate needed on IPs' role in IVAs
Debate is needed on the flexibility IPs have when constructing IVAs, suggests Grant Thornton associate director Michael Peacock
INSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS should be handed authority to help individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) payments stay on track.
Grant Thornton associate director Michael Peacock said a debate was needed on the issue to allow practitioners more flexibility to help debtors that have found themselves in “unforeseen temporary difficulties”.
IVAs allow debtors to consolidate their debts and make monthly repayments over a period of time, usually five years. The IVA must be initially approved and arranged by a licensed insolvency practitioner.
However, IPs only distribute the monthly repayments on to creditors. If the debtor runs into further financial difficulty, the IVA cannot be re-arranged, and bankruptcy would be the most likely option if the IVA fails.
The comments were made at a personal insolvency conference in Manchester held by the Insolvency Practitioners Association (IPA).