Steps of a Bankruptcy

Siobhan7

Hi

I did my bankruptcy application last night and sent it off, it's just this second been approved.

My application was very detailed, I even called round all my old employers (quite a few of them!) and found out who my pension provider was and then called the pension providers up and found out exactly how much was in the pot. A very arduous task but I wanted to lay everything out on the table.

What is next? Will I have everything scrutinized by an IP? Are there more steps to this process? It is making me very very anxious.

National_Debtline

Hi Siobhan7 and welcome to MSE,


The next step is that the Official Receiver (OR) should be in touch to schedule your interview. This is where the OR would go through your application, assets, budget and make decisions regarding disposable of assets, Income Payment Arrangement (IPA), etc. It is also after this point that your bank account could be frozen.


With regard to the pensions, you should check the terms and conditions to ensure they are protected from the bankruptcy (which most are now). The OR cannot force you to draw down on a pension - under case law Horton vs Henry - but please be aware that if you were to draw on a pension before you were discharged, that income could be taken into consideration under an IPA (however, this may not be applicable, depending on your age).


Laura
@natdebtline

Siobhan7

Thank you Laura. I didn't check about the pensions but to be absolutely honest, I didn't even know I had them. They aren't that much combined, maybe £1100 so if they were to take them it wouldn't be such a huge problem. A bit gutted but it's money I never knew I had. Was very surprised I had stuff in the pot to be honest!