To apply for an IVA you will need to find a company that specialises in dealing with IVA's and uses licensed Insolvency Practitioners (IPs) to set up and monitor the IVA.
The first step will be to fill in an application form giving full details of your financial situation. You will need to include documents such as pay slips, mortgage statements, bank statements, creditor's letters etc.
Once your initial application has been accepted the IP will contact your creditors to inform them that you have applied for an IVA and will contact you to discuss your finances further. An interim order will be obtained which will halt any legal action by your creditors and give you some protection while the IVA is being set up.
Once an IVA proposal has been put together a meeting will be held where your creditors will vote upon whether to accept the IVA proposal or not. For the IVA to be accepted, creditors representing over 75% of your debt must be in favour.
Once the IVA has been agreed and accepted the IVA period can begin. It can take a couple of months to get to this point after your initial application.