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The IVA creditor vote: how approval actually works

Your proposal becomes legally binding through one mechanism: a vote counted in pounds, not people.

Written by The My Debt Cleared editorial teamLast reviewed 23 August 2026Jurisdiction England, Wales & Northern IrelandEditorial policy
An IVA is approved when creditors holding 75% by value of the debt owed to those who vote say yes. Votes are counted by amount owed, so one large creditor can carry or sink a proposal regardless of how many small ones disagree. Once passed, the arrangement binds every included unsecured creditor — including those who voted no or did not vote.

The mechanics

Your insolvency practitioner circulates the proposal and creditors vote at (or by proxy before) a decision procedure. Only those who vote are counted. Approval needs 75% by value of the creditors who vote; a second count excludes creditors connected to you, where more than half of the unconnected value must not have voted against. The vote is step six of the application process.

Modifications are normal

Large creditors and their agents often approve subject to modifications — a slightly higher payment, a changed term, tightened windfall wording. You must agree the modifications for the arrangement to proceed; your IP will tell you what they mean before you do. This is negotiation, not rejection.

If the vote fails

A proposal that does not reach 75% simply does not start — no arrangement, no binding, and the situation returns to where it was. What happens after a rejected IVA covers the options from there, and failure after approval is a different thing entirely.

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