Will your employer find out about your IVA?

For most people in most jobs, an IVA stays between you, your creditors and your insolvency practitioner. The exceptions are specific and worth checking before you apply: roles in financial services, law, charities and anything that needs security clearance. This guide explains who is told, how an employer could find out, which jobs have rules, and what you must tell your supervisor when your work changes.

Who is told about your IVA?

When an IVA is proposed, the insolvency practitioner (the nominee) sends the proposal to your creditors so they can vote on it. Those are the people and businesses you owe money to. Your employer is only among them if you owe it money, for example:

• a loan or salary advance from your employer
• a season ticket or car loan through work
• an overpayment of wages you have not yet repaid

Nobody else is written to. Your family, colleagues and landlord are not told.

Two records do exist that others can see:

• The Individual Insolvency Register. Your IVA is on this public, searchable register while it is running and is removed about 3 months after it ends.
• Your credit file. The IVA usually stays there for 6 years from the date it started. See how long an IVA stays on your credit file.

How could your employer find out?

In practice, in one of four ways:

1. You tell them.
2. They are one of your creditors.
3. They run a credit check, usually when you apply for a job or move into a role with financial responsibility.
4. Someone searches the insolvency register. Anyone can, but most employers have no reason to.

Can an IVA affect your job?

For most jobs, no. No law says an IVA ends your employment or stops you working. Your employment contract may still require you to tell your employer about a formal insolvency, so read it, or ask HR in confidence what the policy says without giving details.

Some roles do have rules.

Financial services

If you work in a role where the FCA expects your firm to assess you as fit and proper, the FCA’s guidance on financial soundness lists whether the person “has made any arrangements with their creditors”. There is no time limit on that. The same guidance says that being of limited financial means does not, in itself, affect someone’s suitability. An IVA is something your firm will need to know about and consider. It is not an automatic bar.

Solicitors

The SRA’s Code of Conduct requires solicitors to notify the SRA promptly if “a relevant insolvency event” occurs. SRA guidance says an IVA does not suspend your practising certificate, unlike bankruptcy, but you must tell the SRA, and it can put conditions on your certificate.

Charity trustees and senior charity staff

In England and Wales, the Charities Act 2011 disqualifies anyone who “has made a composition or arrangement with … creditors and has not been discharged in respect of it” from being a charity trustee. An IVA is such an arrangement. The disqualification also covers senior management roles, such as a chief executive or a post with control over the charity’s money. The Charity Commission can waive it in some cases (section 181). If you are a trustee, get this resolved before your IVA starts.

Security clearance

Security Check and Developed Vetting both include a check of your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency. If you already hold clearance, read the aftercare guidance you were given about reporting changes in your circumstances.

Other professions

Accountants, some property roles and other regulated professions may have their own rules. Check with your professional body before you commit to an IVA.

Can you be a company director during an IVA?

Yes, as far as the law is concerned. The Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 bars undischarged bankrupts, people under bankruptcy or debt relief restrictions, and people in the moratorium period of a debt relief order from acting as directors without court permission. It does not apply to IVAs. Your own IVA terms or professional rules could still restrict it, so check your proposal. If you plan to set up a company, see starting a business during an IVA.

This is one of the practical differences between an IVA and bankruptcy. See IVA or bankruptcy? for the rest.

What do you have to tell your supervisor about work?

Your employer may never know about your IVA, but your supervisor must know about your work. Under the standard terms of a protocol IVA, which apply to protocol IVAs from 1 July 2025, you must keep your supervisor informed of your employment details and any change in employment status, such as a new job.

The rules on extra money are specific:

The full rules, with more examples, are in pay rises, bonuses and windfalls.

Should you tell your employer?

That is your decision, unless your contract or professional rules make it for you. People often weigh up:

• Whether their contract or regulator requires it. If so, telling them is not optional.
• Whether the employer is a creditor. If it is, it will find out anyway.
• Whether the role involves credit checks, now or on promotion.
• Whether the employer offers support, such as an employee assistance programme, that would help.

If you are not required to tell them and none of these apply, you can keep it private.

What people commonly get wrong

• “My employer will be sent a letter.” Not unless it is a creditor.
• “I can’t be a director in an IVA.” There is no legal bar, unlike bankruptcy. Check your own terms.
• “An IVA disqualifies me from financial services.” It has to be considered, but limited means alone does not make someone unsuitable.
• “Changing jobs doesn’t matter to the IVA.” Your supervisor must be kept informed of your employment details.

What to do next

1. Read your employment contract and any professional code that applies to you, looking for anything about insolvency or financial difficulty.
2. If you are a charity trustee, a solicitor, or in an FCA-regulated role, raise it with your insolvency practitioner and your regulator or charity before you commit.
3. If you are not yet in an IVA, talk through your options first. Free, impartial debt advice is available from MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline: see where to get free debt advice.
4. For other everyday questions, see life in an IVA.