The financial services industry recognises the impact that the coronavirus pandemic could have on people's finances. Following the announcement of payment holidays available to mortgage, credit card and personal loan customers, greater flexibility is now also being made available to customers who have entered into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) to repay debts.

For customers who have had financial difficulty in the past and have entered into an IVA, UK Finance has worked with the Insolvency Service and stakeholders to allow additional flexibility and support for these customers where they have been impacted by Covid-19. This support is available during the next six months and can be provided quickly and efficiently to customers without the need to get agreement from creditors. The support includes:

• payment holiday - up to three months additional payment holiday  
• payment amount - an ability to reduce monthly repayments by up to 25 per cent
• additional income - where earned by key workers, this does not need to be used to increase payment to reduce the outstanding debt
• breaches - where a customer is unable to keep to the terms of their arrangement, a breach notice does not need to be sent where it is not appropriate, therefore avoiding the unnecessary termination of the agreement.

The announcement from the Insolvency Service can be found here : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-individual-voluntary-arrangement-iva-protocol-guidance