How long does an IVA stay on your credit file?

When is an IVA removed from your credit file?

An IVA is removed from your credit file 6 years after the date it starts, even if the IVA ends sooner, and it comes off the Individual Insolvency Register 3 months after it ends, the periods the Insolvency Service gives in its key facts document for protocol IVAs (opens in a new tab).

Credit reference agencies apply the 6 years, and each lender’s own criteria vary. The Insolvency Service warns that while the entry is there it may make it difficult to get credit.

The 6 years count from the start date, not from the day you finish. A protocol IVA runs for 5 years, or 6 years if your share of the equity in your home is £10,000 or more (IVA protocol 2025 (opens in a new tab), paragraph 8). So the entry comes off about a year after a 5-year IVA ends, and at about the time a 6-year IVA ends. If you are still weighing it up, our guide to how an IVA works covers the whole arrangement.

Your IVA is also listed on the Individual Insolvency Register, which anyone can search by name, and GOV.UK says it is removed 3 months after the IVA ends (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)). Our page on what the Individual Insolvency Register shows explains who can see it. Bankruptcy runs on a similar clock, since GOV.UK says it can stay on your credit file for 6 years from the date of the bankruptcy (GOV.UK (opens in a new tab)). Our guide to how long bankruptcy stays on your credit file covers it.

Can I borrow money during an IVA?

Your IVA stays on your credit file for 6 years from its start, which may make it difficult to get credit, and the protocol terms bar you from taking credit over £500 without your supervisor’s prior written approval (key facts (opens in a new tab); protocol standard terms (opens in a new tab)).

Taking more without that consent is a breach of the arrangement. The £500 limit is a term of the protocol IVA, a different rule from the credit offence that applies in bankruptcy.

The same terms leave out public utilities, insurance policies and other contractual payments already in your agreed budget, so an energy account or a phone contract you have allowed for is not a breach. A bespoke IVA sets its own terms, so read the credit clause in your proposal or ask your supervisor before you apply for anything.

A breach can end the IVA. If it is cancelled, creditors can start chasing you again and may claim the interest and charges that were frozen, and you get no refund of what you have paid (key facts (opens in a new tab)).

Even with approval, lenders will see the IVA on your credit file, and each lender decides for itself whether to offer a credit card, a loan or car finance.

Can I get a mortgage during or after an IVA?

Getting a mortgage during an IVA needs your supervisor’s prior written approval for any credit over £500, and the IVA stays on your credit file for 6 years from its start, which may make it difficult to get credit (standard terms (opens in a new tab); key facts (opens in a new tab)).

After the IVA ends, each lender decides for itself. We make no claims about which lenders accept people who have had an IVA, or about deposits or rates, because no official source covers them.

If you already own your home, a protocol IVA does not make you sell it or use its equity. If your equity is £10,000 or more, your payments last 6 years instead of 5 to make up for that (key facts (opens in a new tab)). The protocol works out your equity as 85% of the property’s value less any mortgage or other secured borrowing.

Keep paying your mortgage. The IVA deals with your unsecured debts, and the standard terms leave a secured lender’s right to enforce its security in place unless that lender agrees otherwise (standard terms (opens in a new tab)).

Neither NTF company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, so we cannot advise you on a mortgage or recommend a lender. A regulated mortgage adviser can.

How can I rebuild my credit after an IVA?

You rebuild your credit after an IVA by completing it, keeping the completion notice your supervisor sends, and checking that every credit reference agency shows the IVA as finished until the entry drops off 6 years from the start date (key facts (opens in a new tab)).

The law gives your supervisor 28 days after the IVA ends to send you and your creditors that notice (rule 8.31 of the Insolvency Rules 2016 (opens in a new tab)). Keep it safe: it is your proof that you no longer owe the debts the IVA included.

Can I get car finance during an IVA?

Car finance during an IVA needs your supervisor’s prior written approval if it is credit over £500, and the cost must fit the budget agreed in your IVA (protocol standard terms (opens in a new tab); IVA protocol (opens in a new tab), paragraphs 39 and 41).

The protocol says your monthly payment comes from a budget of your household’s income and spending and must be sustainable without causing hardship, so a new car payment has to fit inside it. If you need a car for work, tell your supervisor early. Whether a lender offers finance is that lender’s decision, and we make no claim that any particular lender does.

How does an IVA compare with a CCJ on my credit file?

A CCJ stays on the Register of Judgments for 6 years unless you pay it in full within a month, and an IVA stays on your credit file for 6 years from its start; lenders use both when deciding whether to lend (GOV.UK on CCJs (opens in a new tab); key facts (opens in a new tab)).

We do not rank one as worse than the other, because no official source does. A judgment paid after the first month stays on the register for the 6 years but is marked as satisfied, and an IVA also appears on the Individual Insolvency Register until 3 months after it ends.