1. What is a Fast Track Voluntary Arrangement (FTVA)?

A Fast Track Voluntary Arrangement is a formal procedure (legally binding) to pay off some or all of your debts if you have been made bankrupt.

The usual reason for an FTVA is to have a bankruptcy annulled.

2. How do you get an FTVA?

You can get the forms for your FTVA proposal from the official receiver who can help you prepare your proposal.

The official receiver will consider your proposal and, if it is suitable and there is a chance of success, may agree to nominate you for an FTVA. Only the official receiver can be your Nominee. The nominee fee (which may be refunded if you are not nominated) is payable to the official receiver before the proposal can be considered.

There is no reason for creditors to accept anything less than what they can get from you in a bankruptcy, so the official receiver may agree to nominate you only if you can make a better offer to your creditors in your FTVA proposal.

As your Nominee the official receiver will send your proposal to your creditors for a vote on whether or not to accept your FTVA.

If at least 75% by value of the creditors who vote accept your proposal then your FTVA is approved and binding on all creditors, including those who did not vote or who had voted to reject your FTVA

3. What happens after the FTVA is approved?

When your FTVA is approved the duties and responsibilities of the official receiver change from being that of a Nominee to that of a Supervisor.

As supervisor the official receiver will:

• collect the regular payments from you for payment to your creditors or sell your assets for lump sum distributions to your creditors.
• ensure that all parties adhere to the terms of the agreement.
• take the appropriate court action for annulment of your bankruptcy.
• have your bankruptcy record deleted from the insolvency database.
• inform those who were notified of your bankruptcy that the bankruptcy order has been cancelled.
• charge a fee of 15% of the amount raised from the sale of your assets and other money you provide for carrying out the duties of the supervisor.

4. What are the possible benefits of an FTVA?

• Bankruptcy restrictions are lifted when the bankruptcy order is annulled.
• The bodies informed of your bankruptcy order will be informed of the annulment.
• The record of your bankruptcy in the Individual Insolvency Register is deleted. Credit reference agencies should remove the record of your bankruptcy if you send them a copy of the annulment certificate.
• Assets that were part of your bankruptcy order are returned to you if they are not needed for payment to your creditors.
• Creditors in the FTVA cannot take any legal enforcement action without the court's permission.

5. What are the possible disadvantages of an FTVA?

• Your creditors will approve an FTVA only if they can get more money back from you than they can from the bankruptcy order.
• If the FTVA fails you can be made bankrupt again.
• You can be prosecuted for dishonestly getting an FTVA.