Everything you need to know about the steps you will need to complete to go bankrupt in England & Wales.
This guide gives key advice for the whole process including completing your application form and what to expect from your interview with the Official Receiver.
Contents
The information in this guide relates to going bankrupt in England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland the process is different.
Complete your bankruptcy application form
The bankruptcy application form is accessed by registering on the Government’s on-line system. To register, you will need to give your name, date of birth and e-mail address.
After you have registered, you can then log into your account and start completing your form.
There are 8 sections to complete. In addition to various personal details, the key arears you will need to focus on are as follows:
- Employment history
- Assets (property, car, left insurance policy etc)
- Debts
- Income and expenses budgets
You don’t have to complete your form in one go. You can save your information and continue later if you want.
There is no information or advice about how to complete your application on the Government’s system. Get in touch with us today if you require assistance with going bankrupt.
Pay your fee and submit your application
You can’t submit your completed form until you have paid the required fee. You will need to do this via the payment system within your application. Payments are made with a debit or credit card.
It is possible to pay your fee in instalments of as little as £5. However, you will not be allowed to submit your application until it is paid in full.
Once your fee is paid in full, you can then submit your application. It is not done automatically on payment of your fee. You can still decide the date and time you want the submission to happen.
Once your application has been submitted, it is reviewed by the Adjudicator. Acceptance is automatic as long as you meet some key eligibility criteria. For example you must have lived in England & Wales for at least the past 6 months.
You will receive notification that you have been made bankrupt via e-mail. You can then log on to your account and download your Bankruptcy Order. This is the official document confirming you are bankrupt and your reference number.
The Adjudicator has up to 28 days to make their decision. However, in most cases, you will be made bankrupt within 2 working days.
Interview with the Official Receiver
Shortly after you are made bankrupt, you will start to receive various e-mails from the Official Receiver’s office.
These will normally include some introductory information. You should also receive a document confirming that the Official Receiver has no interest in your basic bank account.
If you own a car which you want to keep, you will have to submit a request for exemption including the reasons you need it.
An examiner from the Official Receiver’s office is likely to want to interview you. This is so they can get a better understanding of your circumstances. Your interview will normally take place on the telephone or via MS Teams. Face to face interviews are normally only required if your circumstances are particularly complex.
Amongst other things, the examiner could ask you about why you have gone bankrupt, your employment (especially if you are self employed), your property (if you own one) and your car and other assets.
Need assistance with your dealings with the OR including help to prepare for your interview. Get in touch with us today.
Income and expenses review
Your income and expenses budget is one of the most important sections of your application form.
The Official Receiver will use the information you provide to decide whether or not you can afford to make monthly payments towards your debts. If they think you can, they will issue you with an IPA (Income Payment Agreement). The payments required in this agreement can last up to 3 years.
A member of the OR’s Income Payment Agreement (IPA) team might want to speak to you on the telephone to clarity the information you have provided about your income and expenses budget.
During the call, they may ask you to clarify how you have calculated your income (particularly if you are self employed). They may also ask you about any of the amounts you have included in your expenses budget. You may need to justify any amounts which seem unusually high.
The Official Receiver can ask you for an update of your income and expenses budget at any time during the year you are bankrupt.
Discharge after 12 months
In almost all cases you will be bankrupt for just 12 months. After one year, your bankruptcy will end (known as becoming discharged).
Your discharge is automatic. You will not receive any confirmation letter from the official receiver.
You can ask for an official certificate confirming the date of your discharge if you want. To do this you will need to send your request via e-mail to the Insolvency Service with your details.
In rare cases, some of the restrictions you are under as a bankrupt person can be extended. The Official Receiver can do this by giving you a BRU (Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking). You might face this situation if you owe significant debt to HMRC or made preferential payments to any of your creditors before you went bankrupt.
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What we can do
Assistance with going Bankrupt
- Application form completed correctly
- Preparation for Official Receiver interview
- Ongoing 12 month support
Self Employed Bankruptcy
- Business income and expenses forecast
- Bank account advice
- On-going support with 3 line accounts
Switch from IVA to Bankruptcy
- Help with cancelling IVA
- Support through bankruptcy process
- On-going support during bankruptcy
Support if Already Bankrupt
- Completion of PIQB questionnaire
- Preparation for OR interview
- Assistance with OR info requests