You should contact an IVA practitioner if you think that an IVA is the best way to proceed with dealing with your debt problems. Do this as soon as possible because they will be able to acquire an interim order from a court which will prevent (temporarily at least) any creditors filing for a bankruptcy petition against you. Other types of legal action are also prevented, so you can get yourself a brief period of respite to re-organize yourself. The court will be asked to call a creditors meetings so that the IVA proposal can be reviewed by those with an interest in it. If the court agrees to the meeting, the date of it and details of the proposal are sent to your creditors. It is important to be totally open and honest about who you owe money to, and how much you owe them, as only those creditors who were told about the meeting will be bound by the terms of the IVA. At the meeting, your creditors vote on whether to accept your IVA proposal. If over 75% of your creditors (with votes weighted in favor of those who you owe most money to) decide to accept the IVA then it comes in to force. If accepted, it is binding all creditors that knew about the meeting, regardless of whether they voted ‘no’ or did not attend. You will then work with your IVA practitioner to see out the terms of the agreement. If you make the necessary payments on time for the duration of the IVA then at the expiration of it then you will be debt free. Your creditors will have no legal grounds to pursue you for any money, even if you acquire large amounts of money again in the future. Although an IVA involves less risk than a bankruptcy, assets such as your home and savings may still be at risk. Of most interest to creditors are your releasable assets. Your home normally remains untouched, except for the possible release of some of the equity available at the end of the IVA.