IVA Completion Certificate

08/10/2021
IVA Completion Certificate

A Completion Certificate is issued after you have made your final IVA payment and all your obligations under the agreement are fulfilled.

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What is an IVA Completion Certificate?

A Completion Certificate is written confirmation that you have completed your IVA. It is a statement by your Insolvency Practitioner that they are no longer acting as the Supervisor of the Arrangement. It confirms their interest in your affairs is over.

It is very important that you get your Certificate as soon as possible after you finish paying your IVA. Until it is issued the Arrangement is not officially over. This means any windfalls you receive in the mean time still have to be handed over.

You will also find it more difficult to improve your credit rating until you have your Completion Certificate. This is because your name will remain on the Insolvency Register until it is issued.

What your Completion Certificate looks like will differ depending on your IP. Some will issue an actual certificate. Others will simply send you a letter confirming that your IVA is over.

How long does it take to get an IVA Completion Certificate?

Before your Completion Certificate can be issued your IVA Company will normally carry out a final review of your circumstances. They may ask you to provide wage slips and bank statements for the last 12 months.

This is normal practice. They simply need to check whether you earned more in the final year of the Arrangement and whether you need to pay anything extra as a result.

You should be asked for this information shortly after you have made your final payment. As long as you respond promptly your certificate should be issued to you within 6-8 weeks.

If you have not received your Certificate 8 weeks after you made your final payment you should contact your IP and find out why.

Why could the issue of your Completion Certificate be delayed?

A common reason why your IP might delay the issue of a Completion Certificate is that they are waiting for outstanding PPI claims. If your certificate is issued before such claims are finalised the IP could lose their claim on any compensation still due.

Delays for reasons of PPI may be overcome by agreeing to a Deed of Assignment. However signing such a document means you will lose all subsequent PPI compensation paid after you have your Certificate.

Your IVA Company might offer other excuses for why your Completion Certificate is being delayed. One relatively common example is that they are waiting for your creditors to confirm that all monies have been received.

Excuses other than PPI are generally not acceptable. Whatever the excuse it is normally a simple backlog in your IVA company’s completion department that is to blame.

What can you do if you are still waiting for your Completion Certificate?

If you have been waiting longer than 8 weeks for your Completion Certificate you should contact your IVA company and find out the reason for the delay.

If you feel the answer they give is unacceptable one option that may speed things up is to threaten to make a formal complaint.

You may be concerned that making a complaint will somehow jeopardise your chances of getting your certificate. This is not the case. IPs and their governing bodies take formal complaints very seriously. Volume of complaints is one of the areas that their performance is measured on.

If the reason for the delay is that your IP is waiting for PPI claims to be completed then complaining may not solve this issue. The only option may be to ask about the possibility of signing a Deed of Assignment.

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41 thoughts on “IVA Completion Certificate”

    Michael says:
    27/04/2020 at 17:00

    I completed a I’ve in 2008/9 but can’t find my paperwork. I tried the company I was with Synergy but they where took over by clear dept which has also been took over by aperture. This was over 10 years ago so will they still have my paperwork?. Is this the only way to get a copy as I now have a creditor chasing me . Thanks

    Reply
      James Falla says:
      27/04/2020 at 17:10

      Hi Michael

      Unfortunately the only option you have is to contact Aperture to see if they still have the archived records of your IVA from of Clear debt and Synergy. If not then I am afraid there is no-where else you can get a copy of your IVA paperwork or completion certificate. There are no other records or archives.

      This is why it is really important to keep copies of your IVA documentation and completion certificate pretty much for ever.

      Reply
    Donna says:
    30/04/2020 at 15:33

    Hi James,
    I’ve just finished my Iva with aperture ,I’ve been told my completion date will take 6 months , I was originally told 5 to 6 weeks how do I stand .

    Reply
      James Falla says:
      30/04/2020 at 19:16

      Hi Donna

      In most cases there is actually no reason why an IVA company should not be able to produce a completion certificate within 6 weeks of the last payment. However the fact is that some IVA companies (particularly the larger ones) take far longer. I have heard that it can take 6 months or more with Aperture. I can’t see any good reason for this however unfortunately you are in their hands.

      All you can do to try and speed up the process is threaten to make a complaint. This sometimes helps. However with the best will in the world with Aperture I think you will be waiting a minimum of 6 months.

      Reply
    Harriet says:
    14/08/2020 at 09:10

    I have my letter of completion , I have checked on the insolvency register today and my IVA status is failed, that doesn’t seem right to me. please advise

    Reply
      James Falla says:
      07/09/2020 at 15:49

      Hi Harriet

      If you have a letter stating your IVA is completed then all I can think is this is an administrative error. At the end of the day you should not have to worry too much. Your record will automatically be deleted from the Insolvency Register within 3 months anyway. Then the only record of your IVA will be your completion certificate. You can give a copy of this to anyone who asks for it.

      If you want to can try to get the error rectified by speaking to your IVA company. However this might not be worth the effort given the record on the register will disappear on its own shortly.

      Reply
    Joanne says:
    30/03/2021 at 14:19

    I cannot find my completion certificate from Varden Nuttall. The company no longer exists and I’ve tried emailing and phoning the administrator,to no avail,is there another way to get a copy of the certificate?

    Reply
      James Falla says:
      30/03/2021 at 14:21

      Hi Joanne

      I am afraid that there is no public register of completed IVA cases. The only way to get a copy of your completion certificate is to contact the Administrators of Varden Nuttall. I understand the Administrators are called Harrisons Business Recovery and insolvency. They were appointed on 24th March 2016.

      Reply
    Steve F says:
    08/05/2021 at 10:45

    I have a variation meeting in a few weeks’ time for my creditors to consider a full & final settlement offer.

    If this is approved my mother has offered to pay off my car loan in full (the car loan is listed as a priority debt).

    If she does this before the completion certificate is issued, will this affect my IVA? After all, I’ll be better off every month to the value of my monthly repayments…

    Alternatively, am I allowed to enter into a loan if my f&f is approved and then paid, but before the certificate is issued? If she loaned me the money to repay the car and I paid her back at the same rate as the original loan, that wouldn’t affect my net income.

    Reply
      James Falla says:
      10/05/2021 at 13:11

      Hi Steve F

      As a rule of thumb I normally advise not making any changes to your circumstances until your have your completion certificate in your hand. Even if your full and final offer is approved and the money is handed over, you are still bound by the terms of your IVA until the completion certificate is issued.

      So if your Mum does pay off your car finance, and then your IVA company unexpectedly asked for another income and expenses review, it could case issues. You should certainly not take out a new loan (even from your Mum) until your get your certificate. Legally speaking you should not do this prior to getting your certificate without the written agreement of your IVA company.

      Given the above, I would recommend that your Mum waits to pay off your car finance until after you have your certificate. If you are struggling financially in the mean time, it would be best for her to simply give you the money to maintain the finance payments each month until you have the certificate in your hand.

      Reply

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