At the end of an IVA, you'll be informed that you'll need to attend a final review before you're discharged. If you're in this position, this guide will tell you what to expect from your IVA final review so you can prepare accordingly.
How does an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) work?
An Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is a formal debt solution available in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It must be set up and managed by a qualified Insolvency Practitioner (IP), who will review your financial situation to work out how much disposable income you have to pay towards your debt each month and submit your initial IVA proposal for the people you owe to vote on during a creditors' meeting.
When you enter into an IVA, you agree to make regular payments towards your unsecured debt for an agreed period (usually five years). During this time, your creditors also agree to stop all contact, interest, fees, and legal action associated with the debt.
Examples of the unsecured debts that can be included in an IVA include credit cards, personal loans, council tax, overdrafts, rent arrears, catalogues, income tax, and money owed to family and friends.
Every year, your IVA supervisor will conduct an annual review of your finances to ensure your circumstances haven't changed and you're still eligible for an IVA. You will also be invited to a final review in the last few months of your arrangement, where your IP will check you've adhered to the terms of your IVA agreement and can be discharged from your debts on schedule.
Once your IVA is complete, the unsecured debts included in the arrangement will be legally written off and will be considered dealt with. In other words, you won't have to pay anything towards those debts again.
How much unsecured debt do you have?
How long does an IVA typically last?
An IVA typically lasts five years, which is equivalent to 60 monthly payments.
However, an IVA can be extended to six years (72 monthly payments) in certain situations (e.g. if you've missed payments due to a payment break or you don't have enough for equity release). You may also be able to finish your IVA early if you can agree to an early settlement with a windfall or lump sum payment.
For example, under the 2025 IVA Protocol, if you're a homeowner and you have more than £10,000 of equity in your property, your IVA may be extended to six years to compensate your creditors. Before this, homeowners were required to release equity in the final year of their arrangement.
Before you can be discharged, your IP will conduct a final report of your current financial situation to ensure you've adhered to your IVA terms. This usually occurs five years after your IVA starts, around the time you make your final monthly payment, and requires you to provide copies of bank statements and other financial documents.
What happens during an IVA final review?
The company you took out your IVA with will conduct your final review. Most firms have a dedicated closures team for this, and they will likely contact you during your final year to let you know when to expect your final review. It can occur before or after your final IVA payment.
As long as nothing has changed in recent months, a final review won't be that much different from your other annual reviews. You will likely be asked to provide copies of bank statements, payslips, and a wealth statement reflecting your assets. A P60 may also be required.
The purpose of a final review is to check if you've received any additional income, overtime, pay rises, bonuses, windfalls, or any other bonuses that you haven't disclosed.
If it's discovered that you've received a large sum of money since your last annual report, you may have to make additional payments before you can be discharged from your IVA. Similarly, if you still owe money towards your IVA, your arrangement may be extended.
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What happens if my income has changed?
If your income has changed, your IVA may have to be adjusted to ensure it's still suitable.
If your income has increased
If your income has increased, you may be asked to contribute more in line with the rules of your arrangement. This will usually be 50% of your surplus income.
However, if your living costs increase alongside your income, this will also be taken into account to ensure you're able to afford them on top of your debt repayments.
If your income has decreased
If your income has decreased, there are two options available to you.
Under the 2025 IVA Protocol, you can reduce your payments up to 20% without approval from your creditors. Alternatively, you can ask your IP to propose a larger or longer reduction to your creditors. They are not obliged to agree, but if they do, your IVA may also be extended to compensate for lower payments.
What happens at the end of a final review?
What happens after an IVA final review depends on the outcome of your meeting. For example, if you've made all the agreed-upon payments, the closures team will distribute any last money to your creditors and start the process of issuing your completion certificate. This can be used as official evidence that you've successfully completed your IVA.
Most completion certificates are issued within a few weeks, but wait times of up to three months are not uncommon. However, if you've been waiting more than 12 weeks, you should contact your IP to ask for an update.
Once you have your completion certificate, the Insolvency Service will be instructed to change your entry on the Individual Insolvency Register to 'completed' for three months before deleting it altogether and ask the three credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to update your credit file.
Check the Individual Insolvency Register and your credit report three months after IVA completion to ensure everything has been updated.
Once all evidence of the IVA has been removed, you can enjoy financial freedom and even start to grow your credit score and build a savings account with the extra money you'll have from not making payments. There are several things you can do to boost your credit score post-IVA, such as registering on the electoral roll, making all payments in full and on time, and limiting your credit applications.
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Will my IVA stay on my credit file after my final payment?
Your IVA will stay on your credit file for six years from the date it's approved. This means that, if your arrangement lasts the standard five years, it will remain visible on your credit file for another 12 months after your IVA ends.
During the time an IVA is on your credit file, it will harm your credit score, which can make it difficult to obtain new credit, including a loan, mortgage, credit card, bank account, and mobile phone contract.
However, the impact of an IVA on your credit rating tends to lessen over time, meaning lenders generally view a recent IVA less favourably than an older IVA.
How can I prepare for my IVA final review?
There are a number of financial documents you should gather to prepare for your IVA final review and help the process run smoothly, including:
- Your last three bank statements
- Your last three payslips
- Your latest P60 (if you have one)
- An up-to-date list of household expenses
- Evidence that you've made your final payment (if applicable)
You may also be asked for details of your current budget to check if any of your living costs have changed, but you'll be informed about this around a month before your last review. By having this information to hand, you can help your IP review your current financial situation with ease.
Conclusion
An IVA final review is similar to an annual review. Your IP will simply check that you're continuing to adhere to the terms of your arrangement and that there are no changes in circumstances that you've failed to disclose. If, for whatever reason, you still owe money towards your arrangement, your monthly payments will be extended until you've repaid the agreed-upon amount.
You'll need to provide recent bank statements and payslips to confirm your income and outgoings haven't changed. You may also be asked for a P60 and a copy of your budget, but this will be clearly explained to you in advance of your final review.
If you're concerned about your IVA final review or have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch for free advice. Knowing your IVA is coming to an end can be scary, but there's nothing to worry about. As long as you've stuck to the rules outlined in your IVA proposal, you can look forward to writing off all included debts and becoming debt-free.
