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An overview of the procedure at the High Court
onward
Posts: 199 Forumite
- Warning: Long Post -
I declared bankruptcy today, and thought that I would share my experience of what exactly happens at the High Court in case it helps at least one person picture what will happen. So, this is really a brain dump of my experience today (and any other information that people can add would be very useful to help calm the nerves of others who have to go in future).
This is for those people who are within the catchment area in London that means they have to go to the Royal Courts of Justice (the High Court) rather than their local county court. You'll have to check that for yourself, but I believe that county courts in London do not deal with bankruptcy, so you go to the High Court - but do check for your own personal circumstances.
The Royal Courts of Justice (I'll just say High Court from no on) are on The Strand, just to the east of Aldwych. Tube stations nearby are Temple (closest) and Holborn. If coming from Waterloo station, allow 25 mins to walk there.
As you approach the court, don't go for the first old looking building to the east of Aldwych, as that is St Clements church, and you could have a nasty Orwellian moment
As you approach from Aldwych, there is a gated entrance, which you can ignore, just carry on and you'll see the steps up to the main entrance (if in doubt, loook to the right of the main entrance and you'll see the 'Royal Courts of Justice' sign of the wall (it's the one that all the TV news teams try to get in shot in their reports).
It opens at 9am (I recommend getting there around that time).
When you go inside, you'll be greeted by airport style security. You have to empty your pockets, and put bags through the scanner. There are also security folks there with those hand-held body scanners.
Once through, go to the enquiry desk and ask for directions to the Fees Office. They will give you a printout of instructions of where to go....now get ready for the walk! It's a bit like something off the Krypton Factor, but the directions are very good (if very long), and eventually you'll end up in a small corridor with a 3 or 4 seats, and 3 doors.
This is where you wait until 10am for the Fees Office to open. One of the 3 doors (middle one) is private, one is room E01 (Fee paying, third door if following directions), and the other is E04 (Fee exemptions, first door if following dirctions). I recommend chatting to the other people there to establish who is waiting for which office.
I did Fee Paying first. At 10am, they open, and you go in (it's a bit like queuing in a bank). When a counter is free, you go over, give them your 6.27/6.28 and they take £360 from you and give you a receipt. Note - they only want one copy from you, no matter how many you have bulging out of your bag. This copy gets stamped to say you have paid the BR fee, and you get a receipt. If you are due to pay court fees, you do that now too (£150 court fee, £12 High Court fee). If you are claiming exemption from the court fees, you now go to room E04.
At E04 (exemptions) you hand over your completed EX160, and show evidence (which they photocopy). If you qualify for exemption, they stamp a form and hand it to you. I'm guessing if not, you got back to E01 and pay the rest. Note - they keep your EX160, so if you want a copy, make sure you have one beforehand.
You need to have your 6.27/6.28 with a stamp to say you have paid all fees, or a stamp to say you have paid the £360 and a form for exemption from the others.
Whichever counter you are at last, ask for a map to Thomas Moore Building, as this is where you go next (and it's right over the other side). Head over to the Thomas Moore building (don't stop at the cafe unless you are about to faint from lack of food, as there can be quite a queue for the next bit).
Once in the Thomas Moore Building, there is no reception, no enquiry desk, so I learned it by wandering around aimlessly and asking everyone
Take the lift to the second floor (the signs on the ground floor show BR stuff covering floors 1-3, but to start with you need 2nd floor). Follow the signs for the Bankruptcy rooms. In here is another place a bit like a bank (but no glass screens). This is where the Clerk of the court will check your documents for missing information. They will require the stamped 6.27/6.28 and any Fee Exemption form you where given back in the other building.
You can mention things to the clerk, and mention things you have included on the SoA and why - they cannot give advice, but in my experience, they will say if what you have done is fine.
You are then given a form to read which explains about the contact you will have with the OR and a section in bold and underlined informing you not to use any vehicles you have listed (please take note if you are driving to the court).
You then have to do the swearing bit - no not the 'Oh Sh*t' type, but the 'I hereby declare...' type. There is little or no privacy, as (depending on which counter you are at), the rest of the queue could be at your shoulder.
You then get given a number, and told to come back at a certain time. For me, seen by the clerk around 10.45am, I had to come back at 2.30pm. It may be that everyone comes back at the same time, but you just need to go and chill for a while (I went for a walk along the river, then popped into the National Museum).
Important! Make sure you leave plenty of time to get back. You have to go through the scanner thingy again, and whereas there was no queue at 9am, there was at 1.30pm.
Go back to the Thomas Moore building, and take the lift to the first floor. The room you need is 1.10. If you are there very early, there is a comfy seating area to hang about in, as it is no longer a queuing experience, so no prizes on being there first. To get to the comfy seating area - when entering the building, take the lifts to your right (next to the stairs to the mezzanine level), and the seating area is right there as you leave the lift (the room you have to go to (1.10) is about a 20 yard walk.
Make sure you are in the room by the alloted time. You'll be there with many others. When I was there, some folks got called out by the registrars (I can only assume they had issues with the paperwork). After half an hour, a clerk came in, plonked down a stack of files, and told everyone to get out their forms with their numbers on (that you got given after the swearing bit).
The Clerk then calls out two numbers at a time (seems very random, not in number order). When your is called, you go forward, confirm your name is correct, and you are told that everything has gone through. You get a copy of the 6.27/6.28 you signed earlier, with your stamped bankruptcy letter on top.
You are done :j
Now get out of there, and go have a pint (some nice pubs in the area) and let it all sink in that you life has just begun again, but for the better.
I hope this rambling of what happened to me will help anyone who is worried about what might happen to them. It's not hard, it does feel a bit odd (no, it feels very odd), but the folks you deal with are nice, even if the building smells like my old school
I declared bankruptcy today, and thought that I would share my experience of what exactly happens at the High Court in case it helps at least one person picture what will happen. So, this is really a brain dump of my experience today (and any other information that people can add would be very useful to help calm the nerves of others who have to go in future).
This is for those people who are within the catchment area in London that means they have to go to the Royal Courts of Justice (the High Court) rather than their local county court. You'll have to check that for yourself, but I believe that county courts in London do not deal with bankruptcy, so you go to the High Court - but do check for your own personal circumstances.
The Royal Courts of Justice (I'll just say High Court from no on) are on The Strand, just to the east of Aldwych. Tube stations nearby are Temple (closest) and Holborn. If coming from Waterloo station, allow 25 mins to walk there.
As you approach the court, don't go for the first old looking building to the east of Aldwych, as that is St Clements church, and you could have a nasty Orwellian moment
As you approach from Aldwych, there is a gated entrance, which you can ignore, just carry on and you'll see the steps up to the main entrance (if in doubt, loook to the right of the main entrance and you'll see the 'Royal Courts of Justice' sign of the wall (it's the one that all the TV news teams try to get in shot in their reports).
It opens at 9am (I recommend getting there around that time).
When you go inside, you'll be greeted by airport style security. You have to empty your pockets, and put bags through the scanner. There are also security folks there with those hand-held body scanners.
Once through, go to the enquiry desk and ask for directions to the Fees Office. They will give you a printout of instructions of where to go....now get ready for the walk! It's a bit like something off the Krypton Factor, but the directions are very good (if very long), and eventually you'll end up in a small corridor with a 3 or 4 seats, and 3 doors.
This is where you wait until 10am for the Fees Office to open. One of the 3 doors (middle one) is private, one is room E01 (Fee paying, third door if following directions), and the other is E04 (Fee exemptions, first door if following dirctions). I recommend chatting to the other people there to establish who is waiting for which office.
I did Fee Paying first. At 10am, they open, and you go in (it's a bit like queuing in a bank). When a counter is free, you go over, give them your 6.27/6.28 and they take £360 from you and give you a receipt. Note - they only want one copy from you, no matter how many you have bulging out of your bag. This copy gets stamped to say you have paid the BR fee, and you get a receipt. If you are due to pay court fees, you do that now too (£150 court fee, £12 High Court fee). If you are claiming exemption from the court fees, you now go to room E04.
At E04 (exemptions) you hand over your completed EX160, and show evidence (which they photocopy). If you qualify for exemption, they stamp a form and hand it to you. I'm guessing if not, you got back to E01 and pay the rest. Note - they keep your EX160, so if you want a copy, make sure you have one beforehand.
You need to have your 6.27/6.28 with a stamp to say you have paid all fees, or a stamp to say you have paid the £360 and a form for exemption from the others.
Whichever counter you are at last, ask for a map to Thomas Moore Building, as this is where you go next (and it's right over the other side). Head over to the Thomas Moore building (don't stop at the cafe unless you are about to faint from lack of food, as there can be quite a queue for the next bit).
Once in the Thomas Moore Building, there is no reception, no enquiry desk, so I learned it by wandering around aimlessly and asking everyone
Take the lift to the second floor (the signs on the ground floor show BR stuff covering floors 1-3, but to start with you need 2nd floor). Follow the signs for the Bankruptcy rooms. In here is another place a bit like a bank (but no glass screens). This is where the Clerk of the court will check your documents for missing information. They will require the stamped 6.27/6.28 and any Fee Exemption form you where given back in the other building.
You can mention things to the clerk, and mention things you have included on the SoA and why - they cannot give advice, but in my experience, they will say if what you have done is fine.
You are then given a form to read which explains about the contact you will have with the OR and a section in bold and underlined informing you not to use any vehicles you have listed (please take note if you are driving to the court).
You then have to do the swearing bit - no not the 'Oh Sh*t' type, but the 'I hereby declare...' type. There is little or no privacy, as (depending on which counter you are at), the rest of the queue could be at your shoulder.
You then get given a number, and told to come back at a certain time. For me, seen by the clerk around 10.45am, I had to come back at 2.30pm. It may be that everyone comes back at the same time, but you just need to go and chill for a while (I went for a walk along the river, then popped into the National Museum).
Important! Make sure you leave plenty of time to get back. You have to go through the scanner thingy again, and whereas there was no queue at 9am, there was at 1.30pm.
Go back to the Thomas Moore building, and take the lift to the first floor. The room you need is 1.10. If you are there very early, there is a comfy seating area to hang about in, as it is no longer a queuing experience, so no prizes on being there first. To get to the comfy seating area - when entering the building, take the lifts to your right (next to the stairs to the mezzanine level), and the seating area is right there as you leave the lift (the room you have to go to (1.10) is about a 20 yard walk.
Make sure you are in the room by the alloted time. You'll be there with many others. When I was there, some folks got called out by the registrars (I can only assume they had issues with the paperwork). After half an hour, a clerk came in, plonked down a stack of files, and told everyone to get out their forms with their numbers on (that you got given after the swearing bit).
The Clerk then calls out two numbers at a time (seems very random, not in number order). When your is called, you go forward, confirm your name is correct, and you are told that everything has gone through. You get a copy of the 6.27/6.28 you signed earlier, with your stamped bankruptcy letter on top.
You are done :j
Now get out of there, and go have a pint (some nice pubs in the area) and let it all sink in that you life has just begun again, but for the better.
I hope this rambling of what happened to me will help anyone who is worried about what might happen to them. It's not hard, it does feel a bit odd (no, it feels very odd), but the folks you deal with are nice, even if the building smells like my old school
VSP Challenge 2014 #??? - £9.97
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Comments
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Phew onward....what a day !! Well done on getting through this stressful event...& I bet you are shattered too with all that walking!
Did you speak to the OR today ? or is that appointment later?
Angiexx
ps maybe I should be thankful (if thats the right word) that my local court is a small building with its own carpark at the back!!0 -
Thanks for posting a detailed account of your day in court. :beer::pB&SC No. 298
Life`s Tragedy is that we get OLD too soon
and WISE too late!0 -
sounds like a lot of walking! thanks for sharing, it does help people who are about to 'do the deed'. i am glad it went smoothly for you and i hope you can relax now0
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So_Sad_Angel wrote: »Did you speak to the OR today ? or is that appointment later?
I'm due to speak to them today. The paperwork I was given said the OR will be in touch within 2 days, unless you own a company, in which case you should call the OR immediately.
I did that, and the OR sighed and told me that he wished the High Court would change the wording on their paperwork as it takes one day for the files to be sent to the OR's office VSP Challenge 2014 #??? - £9.970 -
I don't understand the car part. If you drive there are you expected to abandon the car in the car park ????0
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No idea what happens if you've driven there. the actual wording on the document says, "If you own a motor vehicle then you should not use it until you have spoken to the Official Receiver."VSP Challenge 2014 #??? - £9.970
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I printed this post out when I went to court to declare BR, I found it very useful. Thought I'd bump it up
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