After what might have felt a long time coming, you will finally be debt free. Once your IVA has been completed and your IP has finalised the last payment, you will be free to enjoy life knowing you have no more debt to worry about. You should also find that after a good few years living on a budget you now have some spare cash to indulge on yourself. Firstly enjoy your moment and celebrate the relief.

As you come to a close on your IVA there isn’t much to do on your part. Your IP will check that all payments have been made on time and in full and then you simply make your final payment to complete the process.

Once this is all confirmed and approved you will receive an IVA completion certificate confirming your IVA has finished and your debts have been cleared.

No, your IP will notify your creditors when that last payment has been received and everything has been processed. It is important to remember however that even though your IVA has finished it will remain on your credit file for six years from the date it was approved.

You should also check the public insolvency register, to see if you have been removed from there too. It can take up to 3 months after completion for your IVA listing to be removed so just keep an eye on this and query if it has been longer than this. To notify the Insolvency Service that your listing is out of date, simply click ‘report an error’ at the bottom of the page detailing your case, then explain what is wrong. Your Supervisor will inform the Insolvency Service once your IVA has been completed however so you shouldn’t have to do anything with regards to getting it removed from the register.

Your IVA is a type of insolvency; therefore, your credit file may have been significantly impacted leaving you with a low credit score.  However once your IVA has dropped off your credit file, you can start looking at repairing your credit score.

Simply enjoy being debt free! We recommend continuing to stick to a budget to ensure you don’t find yourself out of your depth again and perhaps taking the money you were once paying into your IVA and moving this into a savings account each month.

It never hurts to keep some money tucked away for a rainy day. One of the main reasons many people find themselves in debt is because they found themselves in an emergency situation they simply didn’t have the money to pay for. Take out a high interest savings account or even an ISA to ensure you’re getting the most for your money.