How long does an IVA stay on your credit file?

Two separate records are involved, and they are often mixed up. Your credit file is held privately by the credit reference agencies and seen by lenders when you apply for credit. The Individual Insolvency Register is a public list run by the Insolvency Service. The IVA leaves each one at a different time, and neither is removed early because you finished early.

When does the six years start?

The key facts document for protocol IVAs says: “Your IVA will appear on your credit file for the 6 years from the date your IVA starts.”

The agencies word it slightly differently. Experian’s consumer guide says six years from approval, TransUnion says six years from registration, and Equifax says six years from the date the insolvency begins. In a normal IVA these dates are close together. The date that matters is not when you finish. A 60-month IVA that runs to time stays on your file for about a year after your last payment.

What if your IVA lasts longer than six years?

Protocol IVAs run for 60 months, or 72 months for homeowners whose share of the equity is £10,000 or more. Payment breaks can extend an IVA by as much as 12 more months, so some IVAs run past the six-year mark. This is where the agencies’ published rules differ.

National Debtline puts it simply: if the IVA lasts longer than six years, it stays on your credit report until the date it ends. The safe assumption is that it stays until the later of 6 years from the start or the date your IVA ends.

For example (hypothetical): Priya’s 72-month IVA starts in March 2026. She takes a 6-month payment break after losing hours at work, so the IVA is extended and ends around September 2032. Six years from the start is March 2032. One agency may remove the entry then, while another keeps it until the IVA ends. For those months, different lenders could see different things.

How is your credit file different from the insolvency register?

The Individual Insolvency Register lists your IVA while it runs, and anyone can search it. The entry is removed about 3 months after the IVA ends, once the Insolvency Service has been told it is completed or ended early. Your credit file keeps the IVA for much longer.

See how to check the IVA register for how the register works.

What happens to the individual debts on your file?

StepChange says your creditors may record a default on each account included in the IVA. Each default stays on your file for 6 years from its own default date, whether or not it is paid. So the debts may not leave your file on the same day as the IVA entry:

• accounts that defaulted before your IVA started may disappear first
• an account given a later default date could stay after the IVA entry has gone

Guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office says an account is normally defaulted when it is 3 to 6 months in arrears. That is guidance, not law, but if a creditor has used a default date much later than when you actually fell that far behind, you can ask it to review the date.

A debt management plan works differently, with no plan entry but the same kind of defaults: see IVA or debt management plan?.

How do you check all three credit reference agencies?

There are three main agencies in the UK: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Lenders choose which ones to use, so a mistake on one file can cost you an application even if the other two are right.

1. Ask each agency for your credit file. You can get a copy at no cost under data protection law.
2. Or use a free service. National Debtline names ClearScore, Credit Karma and the MoneySavingExpert Credit Club. Each shows data from one agency, so check which, and use enough of them to cover all three.
3. Do not pay for “credit repair”. Nobody can remove accurate information early, and you can correct wrong information yourself.

What to look for: your name, addresses and date of birth; the IVA’s start date and whether it shows as active or completed; each account in the IVA and its default date; anyone shown as financially connected to you; and whether you are on the electoral register.

How do you fix mistakes when the IVA ends?

When you have made all your payments and met the terms, your supervisor issues a completion certificate within 28 days. Keep it safe.

• A few months after it arrives, check all three files. The IVA should show as completed.
• If a file is wrong, contact that agency. You have the right to ask for incorrect information to be corrected or removed. Send a copy of your completion certificate as evidence.
• If an account in your IVA is shown wrongly, contact the creditor as well, because the agency may need it to confirm the change.
• If you want to explain your circumstances, you can ask for a notice of correction of up to 200 words.
• If the IVA entry is still there after 6 years from the start, or after it ended if that was later, ask the agency to remove it.

What happens once the IVA drops off?

Your credit file no longer shows it, and new lenders will not see it on a search. That does not wipe the past completely. Some applications, particularly for mortgages, ask whether you have ever been insolvent, and you should answer truthfully: see do you have to declare an IVA after 6 years?.

What to do next

1. Write down your IVA start date and the expected end date, and work out when the six years are up.
2. Check all three credit files now, and again a few months after you receive your completion certificate.
3. Start rebuilding while you wait: see how an IVA affects your credit rating.
4. If a creditor or agency will not correct a genuine mistake, get help. Free, impartial debt advice is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline: see where to get free debt advice.

For more on day-to-day life in an IVA, see life in an IVA. If you use our checker, we may pass your details to a licensed insolvency practitioner or debt adviser.