How much does an IVA cost?

What fees does an IVA have?

An IVA has two main fees, the nominee's fee for preparing your proposal and putting it to your creditors and the supervisor's fee for running the IVA once it is approved, plus a £15 registration fee set by the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) Order 2016 (opens in a new tab).

GOV.UK calls the first two a set-up fee and a handling fee each time you make a payment (opens in a new tab). Whatever they are called, your proposal must state the amount proposed for the nominee's fees and expenses and explain how the supervisor's fees and expenses will be worked out and paid (rule 8.3 (opens in a new tab)). For the whole process, read how an IVA works.

Our practitioners explain how their fees are calculated, and set them out in writing in your proposal, before you agree to anything.

How are IVA fees paid?

In a protocol IVA the fees are paid out of your monthly payments, so you pay one amount each month and the supervisor divides it between the fees and your creditors (Key facts (opens in a new tab)).

Your proposal shows how your payments will be split between the practitioner's fees and payments to your creditors, with a timetable of when each is expected (IVA Protocol 2025 (opens in a new tab)). In the first months more of each payment goes to the fees than to your debts. That is why an IVA that ends early can leave you having repaid less than you expected.

Money you have paid in is not refunded if you later cancel the IVA. Read what happens if an IVA fails before you agree to one.

Do I pay anything before the IVA is approved?

In a protocol IVA you pay nothing upfront for the fees, because the Key facts document (opens in a new tab) says the practitioner's fee is included in your monthly payments, and your practitioner must explain the fees before you agree.

If a protocol IVA breaks down before your creditors receive their first payment, the supervisor must look again at whether it was the right solution. If it was not, or a breach was likely from the start, the protocol says your payments should be refunded and the IVA ended (IVA Protocol 2025 (opens in a new tab)).

A bespoke IVA sets its own terms, so ask how and when its fees are taken. Ours set that out in the proposal.

Who decides the IVA fees?

Your creditors decide the IVA fees, because the fees are part of the proposal they vote on, and that proposal is approved only when creditors holding three-quarters or more, by value, of the debts of those who respond vote for it (rule 15.34 (opens in a new tab)).

Creditors can vote against a proposal, and in exceptional cases they can ask for changes to it before they vote (IVA Protocol 2025 (opens in a new tab)). Later on, if you or a creditor disagree with something the supervisor decides, you can apply to the court, which can confirm, reverse or change that decision (section 263 (opens in a new tab)).

If you are unhappy with how your practitioner has dealt with you, complain to them first. Our regulation and complaints page explains the next steps.

How much will I have to live on in an IVA?

Your IVA payment is worked out from a budget of your household's income and reasonable spending using the Standard Financial Statement; it must be sustainable, and the supervisor's fees come out of it before creditors are paid (IVA Protocol 2025 (opens in a new tab)).

What is left after that payment is what you live on, and the protocol says the payment should not cause you hardship.

Your practitioner looks ahead to changes, such as a rent rise or child benefit ending when a child turns 18. If you receive disability or caring benefits, the costs of that disability or care go in as expenses. Reasonable pension contributions taken from your pay can carry on.

The budget is reviewed at each anniversary of the IVA (standard terms (opens in a new tab)), so your payment can go up or down as your circumstances change.