can anyone advise...

threeofus

my ex husband went bankrupt in 2015, discharged in 2016. The house was the only asset so this went, his business was protected as made into a ltd company 10 months before being petitioned for bankruptcy, he only has one share in said company the rest were given to his parents. They took over the day to day running during the bankruptcy and got the business back on track

After the bankruptcy restrictions were lifted he took over the company and is to this day the director. He was made bankrupt again in September for non payment of the income payment order to the trustee - this was set out by a court order, has not filed company accounts for three years, nor a confirmation statement for two. He isn't paying corporation tax, nor paye or NI contributions for his staff. Companies house have put a restriction on winding the company up but this will only last two months then it will be liquidated and the debts dying with it. Is this right? Will the insolvency service look at the whole picture, and what is likely to happen?

Seems so wrong it's legal for someone to use the system in this way?

noobinvestor

I've heard it happens all the time but if tax is owed to HMRC they will most likely object to the company closure.

threeofus

really so someone can not pay debts or tax, go on nine holidays, most abroad, have weekend away, lead a fancy lifestyle....and it's just wiped away, first time bankruptcy I get but when you deliberately don't pay your IPO because you choose to live a lavish lifestyle it just seems wrong. Won't the official receiver look into that??

Minkym00

The OR will definitely look into it. They will assess the causes of his insolvency and open an investigation if there are causes for concern. If you have intelligence on him then contact his OR yourself (ex partners are a great source of info). Given that he was subject to a BRO last time means that he was investigated and his misconduct identified. Sounds likely this will happen again and, as it’s his second time around, that will count against him.

Equally if his company is wound up and he is investigated he could be looking at a director’s disqualification.

JCS1

For details of his assigned office enter the details in here:

https://www.gov.uk/search-bankruptcy-insolvency-register

The Trustee is obviously not impressed he hasn't been paying his IPO, if they made him bankrupt again.

I suspect that unless he starts to co-operate (from what you have said seems unlikely), they will eventually apply to the courts to suspend his discharge - so he will be bankrupt until he does co-operate.

Minkym00

Sorry, reading this again I read it that he had a bankruptcy restrictions order last time, but it’s not clear from your post if he actually did.

The Insolvency Service also has a live company investigations team that can investigate misconduct even though a company has not been wound up. This is another avenue you could try.

threeofus

thanks @minkym00 there was no BRO, but he is again director of the company

Minkym00

As he is bankrupt again it would be a criminal offence for him to continue to act as a director. If you have evidence that he is, let his OR know.