Photograph of the actual car.
MG 3
1.5 VTi-TECH Exclusive (Nav)
Manual · 2022 · 36,000 miles · Black
£275 per month
£825 to start, then 35 payments of £275 inc VAT
LEASING WITH AN IVA
Car leasing with an IVA
Yes, you can lease a car while you're in an IVA. You'll need permission from your Insolvency Practitioner first, and that permission is the part most people get wrong.
No credit check at this stage
£299 to £499
a month, inc VAT
3 months
rental up front
36 months
road tax included
10,000
miles a year
We arrange car leases for people in IVAs regularly. It's some of the work the lender does most, at a time when a lot of the bigger lenders have quietly stopped. What follows is how it actually works, including the parts that might not go your way. If you're new to the site, our page on bad credit car leasing covers the broader picture.
Written by Guy Prince, FCA-authorised credit broker, FRN 984955. Last updated 6 September 2026.
The short version
- You do not need your Insolvency Practitioner's agreement before you apply to us. Nothing at this stage touches your credit file.
- They do have to agree before anything is signed, because your IVA shows on a credit search and no legitimate company will proceed without it.
- So we get you a firm offer first, with exact figures on it, and then you take that to them.
- Your IP decides on your budget: what you owe, what you are paying, and how the new payment fits alongside it.
- Most cars are between £299 and £499 a month. The first three months are payable up front, from around £900.
- Your bank statements are read before any credit check happens.
The order this has to happen in
Most people in an IVA know they need permission for new commitments. What catches them out is the order, and it runs the opposite way to what everybody expects.
Your Insolvency Practitioner cannot approve an idea. They can only approve a specific agreement: this car, this monthly payment, this term. Ask them "can I get a car?" and the honest answer is "bring me the numbers". So the numbers come first.
It is worth having an informal word with them beforehand, along the lines of "I need a car for work, would you support it if I can get an approval?" Most will say yes in principle. That is a conversation, not a decision, and it is not something you have to have before you talk to us.
1
We check whether it is affordable
You send three months of bank statements and a copy of your driving licence. Someone at the lender reads them properly, working out whether the payments would sit comfortably alongside everything you already pay, your IVA contribution included. No credit check at this stage, so if the answer is no, nothing has touched your credit file.
2
If it works, you get a firm offer
A specific car, a specific monthly payment, the initial payment, the term and the mileage. In writing, with the actual figures on it.
3
You take that offer to your Insolvency Practitioner
Now they have something they can assess properly. This is the step you cannot skip.
4
Only when they have agreed does anything get signed
Not sure whether the numbers work? Send us three months of statements and we will tell you within two working days, before you raise it with your IP at all.
You can't get this wrong by accident
People in an IVA often worry about this, so it's worth saying plainly.
Your IVA shows up on a credit search. Any legitimate leasing company will see it, and none of them will set up an agreement without your Insolvency Practitioner's consent, ours included. There is no version of this where you accidentally sign something you shouldn't have. The process protects you whether you know the rules or not.
The place to be careful is elsewhere. Some companies advertise cars with no credit check and guaranteed acceptance. If nobody runs a search, nobody sees your IVA, and nobody checks whether your arrangement allows the commitment you're taking on. That's how people end up in breach without realising it.
If a company tells you they will not check your credit, that is not them doing you a favour. It is them not looking.
What your Insolvency Practitioner will be looking at
They're doing much the same job the person who assesses your application does, from a different angle.
Whether it fits
They look at your statements and your existing commitments and work out whether another monthly payment genuinely fits. If it would leave you short, or put your IVA contribution at risk, they will say no, and they will be right to.
Where you are up to
How much you still owe, and how far through the arrangement you are. Someone three years into a five year IVA with a good payment record is in a different position from someone four months in.
Which firm they are
Practitioners vary. Different firms take different views and there is no single rule across all of them. Anyone who guarantees your IP will agree is telling you something they cannot know.
MoneyHelper explains how IVAs work in plain terms if you want a second read on any of this.
A recent example
We recently helped an accounts assistant who was part way through an IVA, whose car had just failed its MOT and was not worth the repair. She earns about £2,300 a month and receives universal credit on top, so roughly £3,500 coming in. Her rent goes out on the same day each month and is plainly visible on her statements.
The affordability side was straightforward. She was approved for a Nissan Qashqai subject to her Insolvency Practitioner agreeing, which is the normal order for anyone in an IVA.
Nothing about her situation was unusual. She simply needed somebody to read her bank statements rather than her credit score.
Will yours say yes?
We can't tell you that, and we won't pretend to.
What we can tell you is that it happens regularly, and that your chances are better when three things are true:
- The payment genuinely fits your budget.
- You have kept up your IVA contributions.
- You can show why you need the car, usually to get to work.
A lease is often an easier thing for an IP to approve than a car bought on finance. There is no asset sitting inside your arrangement to be valued or argued about, and the cost is fixed and visible for the whole term. That is a simpler thing to sign off.
If your IP says no, that's the end of it for now, but it isn't necessarily the end of it forever. Circumstances change, and you're welcome to come back to us.
Getting the approval itself
There is a separate page setting out exactly what to put in front of your Insolvency Practitioner, what the standard IVA terms actually say about new commitments, and what to do if they say no.
→ How to get your Insolvency Practitioner to approve a car leaseWhat you'll need
- The first three months up front. From around £900, and more on the dearer cars. There is no no-deposit version.
- Income from work. Employed or self-employed, £1,500 a month minimum after tax. Anything else you receive counts on top of that, but there has to be earned income there as well.
- Your IVA contributions up to date, and your recent statements holding up. Past trouble is fine, and that is the entire point of what we do. What gets looked at is the pattern over three months, not whether every single payment on them is perfect.
- Three months of bank statements and your driving licence. That is all we ask for to start.
- 21 or over. We cannot help anyone younger, whatever their circumstances.
- A full UK driving licence, and an address in mainland England or Wales. Scotland is not something we can cover.
For the full list of what you need, including how to get your bank statements right, see our guide.
What it costs
£299 to £499
a month, inc VAT
£900+
three months up front
36
months, road tax in
10,000
miles a year
Check if I can get this car
Photograph of the actual car.
BMW i3
125kW 42kWh
AUTO · 2020 · 55,000 miles · Mineral Grey/Black Roof
£320 per month
£960 to start, then 35 payments of £320 inc VAT
Photograph of the actual car.
Renault Zoe
100kW S Edition R135 50kWh Rapid Charge
AUTO · 2022 · 23,000 miles · Highland Grey
£320 per month
£960 to start, then 35 payments of £320 inc VAT
Going over the mileage costs between 10p and 14p per mile plus VAT, around 12p on most cars. Servicing, tyres, MOT and insurance are yours. Delivery and collection are free in mainland England and Wales.
Ten thousand miles a year is the standard allowance. Higher mileage quotes are available up to twenty thousand a year, so ask if you need more.
At the end you hand the car back. There's no option to buy it.
Every car comes with at least twelve months' warranty, and each one is serviced, inspected and put right before it goes out. Delivery usually takes seven to ten days from order.
Delivery and collection are free anywhere in mainland England and Wales. Scotland is not something we can cover, so please get in touch before applying if that is where you are.
Servicing, tyres, MOT and insurance are not included. These are customer maintained agreements, so budget for those separately.
When we can't help
We'd rather put this on the page than discover it after you've sent us your bank statements.
- You cannot cover the first three months up front.
- Your income is from benefits or other sources only, with no earned income alongside it.
- Important direct debits failing month after month. One or two that bounced and were sorted out is not the issue. A pattern is.
- If more than two or three direct debits have bounced in the last three months.
- You drive more than 20,000 miles a year.
- You have been declared bankrupt and have not yet been discharged.
- If you are under 21.
- If you hold a provisional licence rather than a full one.
Questions people ask about leasing with an IVA
Yes, with your Insolvency Practitioner's permission. That permission has to come before anything is signed, not after.
Yes. Almost every IVA requires you to get your supervisor's agreement before taking on new credit or a lease above a set amount, and a car lease will be well above it. Skipping that step risks the arrangement itself.
Not many of the mainstream ones. It's a specialist area, and it's got narrower rather than wider over the last few years as some of the larger lenders have pulled back from it. The lender has been doing it since 1999.
Not to begin with. Your bank statements are read first. Only if that looks positive does a credit check happen, and that one is a full search, which will be recorded on your credit file. Be wary of anyone offering you a car with no check at all: if nobody runs a search, nobody sees your IVA, and nobody asks whether your arrangement allows it.
There's no fixed rule, but how far through you are does come into your IP's decision. Someone well into their arrangement with a clean payment record is in a stronger position than someone who has just started.
Then you don't need permission from anyone, and you're in a stronger position than you might think. The arrangement will still show on your credit file, which is why the mainstream leasing companies will still turn you down, and that is why we exist.
Done with your IP's agreement, it's simply another agreed monthly cost within your budget. And because your IVA shows on a credit search, no legitimate leasing company will set one up without that agreement, so it isn't something you have to manage on your own.
You'll hear from us within two working days of sending your documents. After that it depends partly on how quickly your Insolvency Practitioner comes back to you, which is outside our hands.
Find out where you stand
Answer a few questions and send us three months of bank statements. We'll tell you within two working days whether this is likely to work, before any credit check, and before you need to speak to your IP about it.
Check if I qualify