What happens at the end of an IVA?

Your IVA ends when your supervisor confirms you have made every payment and kept every term, and issues a completion certificate. From that moment you no longer owe the unpaid balance of any debt included in the IVA. A few records take longer to catch up, and a few debts were never covered in the first place, so it is worth knowing what to check.

IVAs are available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; this page describes the rules in England and Wales. Scotland has no IVAs: see debt solutions in Scotland.

What has to happen before your IVA can end?

Two things: all the agreed payments have been made, and every other obligation has been met in full.

That often means more than the original number of months:

• Payment breaks have to be made up. If you missed payments with your supervisor’s agreement, the IVA is extended to recover them, by no more than 12 months.
• Extensions must be notified. Your supervisor can extend the IVA by sending a notice to you and your creditors. In the final year, that notice must arrive at least 14 days before the IVA was due to end.
• The final annual review has to be done, and any income or windfall you were obliged to pay in has to be paid.

Homeowners with an older IVA should check their terms. Under the IVA Protocol 2025, which applies to protocol IVAs approved from 1 July 2025, there is no equity review at all: if your share of the equity was £10,000 or more, the IVA simply runs for 72 months. IVAs agreed under the 2021 Protocol could include a revaluation of your home around month 54 and an attempt to remortgage, with an extra 12 months added if equity could not be released. If that applies to you, it will be in your proposal.

When do you get your completion certificate?

Under the IVA Protocol standard terms, your supervisor issues the completion certificate within 28 days of the later of your last payment due or you completing all your requirements. Separately, the law requires the supervisor to notify you, your creditors and the Insolvency Service within 28 days of the IVA being fully implemented.

Here is a hypothetical timeline for a 60-month IVA that started in January 2022.

Keep the certificate somewhere safe, with a digital copy. You may need it years later for a mortgage application or to correct a credit file.

If there is money left over once your creditors and the IVA’s costs have been paid, the standard terms say the surplus must be returned to you.

Which debts are written off, and which are not?

The completion certificate releases you from all debts that are subject to the IVA. That includes debts owed to creditors who voted against it or did not vote, and debts owed to creditors who were never told about it but would have been entitled to vote.

It does not release you from:

• debts that cannot go into an IVA, such as child support arrears, court-ordered maintenance, student loans, magistrates’ court fines, Social Fund loans and TV licence arrears
• secured debts, such as your mortgage, which carry on as normal
• any debt you took on after the IVA started

If you had joint debts, the other person named on them is still responsible for whatever is left. Your release does not cover them unless they had their own IVA.

What happens to your credit file and the insolvency register?

These are two different records, and people often mix them up.

If your IVA lasted longer than 6 years, for example a 72-month IVA that was then extended, some credit reference agencies keep the entry until the IVA ends rather than dropping it at 6 years.

About a month after your certificate, check your file with all three credit reference agencies. The IVA should show as completed. If it does not, or something else looks wrong, send the agency a copy of your certificate and ask it to correct the record. Around four months after the end, search the register to confirm your entry has gone. See how to search the insolvency register for step-by-step instructions, and how long an IVA stays on your credit file for more on the credit side.

What if your IVA cannot be completed on time?

If you are near the end and cannot make the final payments, speak to your supervisor straight away. There are options before failure: making up missed payments over an extension, a formal change agreed by creditors, or a settlement proposed by the supervisor. If you are able to raise a lump sum, you may be able to pay off your IVA early instead.

If none of that works, the IVA can be terminated even in its last months, and creditors can then chase the balances again, with frozen interest and charges added back. See what happens if an IVA fails.

What changes in your life after an IVA?

The day your IVA completes, its rules stop applying. You no longer need your supervisor’s permission to borrow more than £500, you no longer have annual reviews, and you no longer have to hand over part of a pay rise, bonus or inheritance.

What stays is the credit history. For the rest of the 6 years, lenders will see the IVA and may say no or offer higher rates. Some applications, particularly for mortgages, may ask whether you have ever been insolvent, even after the IVA has dropped off your file. See whether you have to declare an IVA after 6 years and getting a mortgage with an IVA.

If you still have debts that were outside the IVA and they are becoming a problem, look again at your options in the debt solutions comparison.

What to do next

1. Check your final statement from the supervisor and confirm the date of your last payment.
2. When your completion certificate arrives, save it and check your three credit files about a month later.
3. Search the Individual Insolvency Register about four months after completion to confirm you have been removed.
4. If money is still tight, a free, impartial adviser at MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice or National Debtline can help you plan. See where to get free debt advice, or go back to IVAs explained.