Is an IVA public? The Individual Insolvency Register explained
Yes. Costs, risks and what actually happens, explained without the sales pitch.
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What is shown
Your name, any trading names, your date of birth, the court or authority involved, the type of insolvency, the start date and the insolvency practitioner. Your address is normally included. Anyone — an employer, a neighbour, a journalist, a creditor — can search it without giving a reason.
Withholding your address
You can apply for a Persons at Risk of Violence order to have your address withheld from the register. This requires evidence that disclosure would put you or someone in your household at risk of violence. It is a real protection and it is used, but it is granted on evidence rather than on preference.
How long the entry stays
For an IVA, until three months after completion or termination. For bankruptcy, until three months after discharge. For a DRO, until three months after the order ends. The register entry disappearing is separate from your credit file, where the record persists for six years from the start date.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland maintains its own Register of Insolvencies through the Accountant in Bankruptcy, covering sequestrations, Trust Deeds and DAS programmes. Northern Ireland has its own arrangements. The principle is the same in each: formal insolvency is a matter of public record.
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Common questions
Will my employer see it?
Only if they look. There is no notification. Most employers never search the register. But regulated roles in financial services, some legal and accountancy positions, and company directorships carry their own disclosure duties, and those are separate from the register itself. Check your contract and your professional body's rules.
Related guides
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