Finished your IVA with StepChange? Here's what happens next
Completed your IVA with StepChange? Here's what your completion certificate means, what happens to your credit file, and the steady steps that get your file back in shape.
Free to use, no obligation — and a soft search won't affect your credit score.
Written by the AfterMy team · Reviewed by Ben Miller, Customer Success Manager
Last reviewed: June 2026
Finished your IVA with StepChange? Here's what happens next
Completed your IVA with StepChange? Here's what your completion certificate means, what happens to your credit file, and the steady steps that get your file back in shape.
Free to use, no obligation — and a soft search won't affect your credit score.
Written by the AfterMy team · Reviewed by Ben Miller, Customer Success Manager
Last reviewed: June 2026
Quick answer
Congratulations on finishing. StepChange is a debt charity and one of the best-known IVA providers in the UK, so if your arrangement was with them, completing works the same way it does for any IVA. You receive a completion certificate confirming your debts are settled, your name comes off the Insolvency Register within three months, and the marker stays on your credit file until six years from your IVA's start date. AfterMy is independent of StepChange, and this guide explains what to do from here.
On this page
Who StepChange are, briefly
StepChange is a debt charity, and its IVAs are arranged through StepChange Voluntary Arrangements, part of StepChange Debt Charity. As a charity it runs its IVA service on a non-profit basis, with fees taken from your monthly payments rather than charged on top, and no separate set-up fee. If your IVA was arranged and supervised through StepChange, your completion follows the standard IVA process, the same as it would with any insolvency practitioner.
Key point
A quick note on who we are: AfterMy is independent and not connected to StepChange. We are a credit broker that helps people rebuild after a debt solution. We did not set up your IVA, and finishing it does not tie you to us. This guide is simply here to explain what comes next.
Your completion certificate from StepChange
When you finish your IVA, your insolvency practitioner at StepChange Voluntary Arrangements issues a completion certificate. This is your proof that the arrangement is complete and your included debts are settled. It often looks unremarkable, sometimes a short letter rather than a formal certificate, but it is an important document. Keep it somewhere safe and keep it for years, because it can be hard to obtain a copy later.
Key point
If you have made your final payment but not yet received your certificate, that is normal. It can take several weeks to a few months for the final report and certificate to be issued, while the insolvency practitioner completes the closure process and confirms everything with your creditors. If yours is taking longer than you expected, you can contact StepChange directly to ask for a progress update.
What happens to your credit file
This is the part people most often misunderstand, so here it is plainly. Your IVA stays on your credit file for six years from the date it started, or until completion if that is later, whichever comes last. Completing does not wipe it straight away.
- The marker updates from active to completed, and the debts inside your IVA should show a zero balance.
- If you had a five-year IVA, the marker usually drops off about a year after you finish.
- If yours ran six years or longer, it drops off at or around completion.
- Once you have your certificate, send a copy to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion so they can update their records.
- Three months after completion, check that your entry has been removed from the Insolvency Register too.
If your IVA started with a different firm
One thing worth knowing: IVAs are sometimes transferred between providers. If your arrangement started with another firm and later moved to StepChange, or began with StepChange and moved elsewhere, that is not unusual, and it does not change your completion or your dates. Your certificate comes from whichever firm supervised your IVA at the end. If you are unsure who holds your IVA now, your most recent annual review letter or the Individual Insolvency Register will tell you.
Starting your comeback
Finishing your IVA is a genuine milestone. You have cleared what you agreed to clear, and the money that went into your IVA each month is now yours again. The marker on your file will fade in time, and the sooner you start rebuilding deliberately, the better placed you are when it drops off.
Key point
The first steps are the steady ones: stay on the electoral roll, keep every bill on time, keep credit use low, and check your file is accurate. From there, the right products in the right order do the rest. That is what AfterMy is built for, helping you work out what to do first, in what order, staged around your own dates.
Frequently asked questions
How long does StepChange take to send a completion certificate?
Does finishing my StepChange IVA clear my credit file?
Is AfterMy part of StepChange?
My IVA moved between firms. Does that affect completion?
What should I do first after my IVA completes?
Just finished with StepChange?
This is where your comeback starts. See your next steps, staged around your own dates.