Need advice on 2nd time bankruptcy

vardmac

I declared myself bankrupt in 1993 after a business deal went wrong and left me with thousands of pounds worth of debt and no way to pay it back. However this was never recorded anywhere. It is not on the insolvency site nor is it recorded anywhere else as I have had several bankruptcy checks done in the past years.

Last month a very unscruplious insurance company bankrupted me for £1400.00 (yes it is pathetic). My question is what do I do about the old bankruptcy and what effect will it have on my discharge? I have to tell the OR about it but does that mean I will not be free for 5 years?

Cheers

Ed

fermi

From my understanding it will still be the standard 12 months, and you could even get early discharge.

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/techmanvol1/Ch13-24/Chapter22/part1/Part%201.htm

Second time bankrupts

22.2EA Where a bankruptcy order is made against an individual on or after 1 April 2004, he/she is discharged, and a subsequent bankruptcy order is made against him/her, he/she will be automatically discharged from the second/subsequent bankruptcy one year from the date of the bankruptcy order (or earlier if the official receiver follows the early discharge process). If the first bankruptcy order was made before 1 April 2004 the guidance in Annex 1 of this chapter should be followed.

It looks like the 5 year rule was in force until the Enterprise Act 2002 came into force, and only applied to those whose 2nd bankruptcy occurred before April 2004.

I think that now the preference is to deal with second bankruptcies where there is misconduct via BRU/BRO's rather than an extended BR period. In your case you shouldn't have a problem with that since you are relatively blameless.

Only the Insolvency Service / OR can answer with 100% certainty on this.

rog2

I agree with fermi about the 'logistics' of second time bankruptcies. It is, after all, only fair that they are not treated any differently unless, of course, there is any suggestion of serious fraud, which, in your case there obviously isn't.

The one thing that 'bugs' me is that this company petitioned for your bankruptcy for the sum of £1,400 - I find that incredible. Whilst any creditor CAN petition for a debtor's bankruptcy for any debt of more than £750, few, in fact do, as there is no guarantee that they will get the costs, or the debt, back.

If that was your ONLY debt, then I think that you could, possibly, apply to have the bankruptcy annuled, possibly by paying the amount due, plus admin costs, or through an IVA. Either way, I think it is worth having a word with someone like CCCS.

fermi

rog2 wrote: »

If that was your ONLY debt, then I think that you could, possibly, apply to have the bankruptcy annuled, possibly by paying the amount due, plus admin costs, or through an IVA. Either way, I think it is worth having a word with someone like CCCS.

I was thinking about this along much the same lines after I made my post above. There may lots of other debts that have built up since 1993 that make this impractical, but if the overall debt burden is relatively small it may be worth taking further advice.

This is especially so, since the OP said in another post that their job is FSA regulated and this BR would effectively end that career.

vardmac

Thanks for the great advice. I hope you are both right. I do have other debts but only the usual credit cards and loans but yes the big one is the end of my career of 29 years. I am affraid at 48 I am too old to train for anything new so it looks like I will be another government statistic.