Bankruptcy petition and continued enforcement

matthew21_2

Hi,

Just seeking advice from anyone who may be in the know. The local council petitioned for my bankruptcy in July 2015, with the bankruptcy hearing listed for next month, however I still have the local Enforcement Agents chasing me and they clamped my car yesterday.

I read online that a creditor is not allowed to continue with enforcement action when a petition has been filed, does anyone know if this is the case?

Thanks

fermi

Not that I have seen, but you never know.

An interim order on application for an IVA can prevent certain action, so could be what you have read?

matthew21_2

Thanks for your reply.

I can't post a link as a new user, but when searching google for "enforcement after bankruptcy petition is filed" it's the second link, website is thesherrifsoffice and reads :

Once a Bankruptcy Petition has been presented, creditors are unable to take any further legal or enforcement action (without the leave of the Court) against the debtor or their property unless they have registered security for their debt or until such time as the Petition is dismissed without a Bankruptcy Order having been granted

Thanks

National_Debtline

Hi Matthew


The excerpts you have quoted are quite possibly given in the context of creditors who can use High Court sheriffs. This is not the case for council tax, which is enforced by private bailiffs after the granting of a liability order by the magistrates' court, and the Insolvency Act 1986 distinguishes between these different categories of debt. There is no automatic requirement for ongoing enforcement of the council tax debt to stop. That said, the enforcement agents will be guided by their customer's policy and you may wish to approach the council directly to suggest that it is inappropriate to use these agents when a bankruptcy hearing is imminent.


Have you taken advice on dealing with this debt, and more specifically the threat of bankruptcy?


Dennis
@natdebtline

matthew21_2

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately I haven't taken advice, I can't afford to seek the advice of an insolvency solicitor and with total debts in the region of 10k and very little current income I can't help but feel that Bankruptcy will be the best option for me. Enforcement Agents are continually turning up at both my home and my business, and nearly closed my business premises two days ago even though it's trading as a Limited Company as I could not produce receipts for everything.

National_Debtline

Hi again Matthew


In that case, could I suggest that you at least contact one of the free advice charities prior to bankruptcy, in case there are suggestions they can make? If you have any designs on continuing to trade as a limited company, it is well worth contacting our colleagues at Business Debtline who will be able to advise both on business and personal debt matters.


www.businessdebtline.org


Dennis
@natdebtline