gambling and bankruptcy

Hammers01

I have £60k in debt, which £15k of that is gambling in High street bookies last summer as I my business and been struggling to Covid.  I am not proud of this. If I include this in my bankruptcy will I get into trouble as I don't want a prison sentence or a criminal record as I can see the official receiver may see as fraud. 

A_Lert

Unless you took out loans fraudulently, you've not committed any crime. With only a quarter of your debt attributable to gambling it's unlikely to affect your bankruptcy at all, but you will need to declare it specifically in your application anyway.

https://bankruptcyexpert.co.uk/can-i-go-bankrupt/can-i-go-bankrupt-if-i-have-gambling-debt

Hammers01

thanks as my worry was that it was a lot of cash in amounts in the space of say 3 months.

Flyright

It might lead to a BRO if you incurred additional credit when you were already insolvent.

JCS1

Flyright said:

It might lead to a BRO if you incurred additional credit when you were already insolvent.

But it has to be material to the overall debt.

fatbelly

I once talked to an Official Receiver at a training session and he was surprisingly laid back about gambling debt. His attitude was 'as long as they've kept the receipts...' It was a long time ago.

I think you should be open and up front about what happened when. If you can evidence the debt, and if you can show you have taken steps, to address your problem, you should be OK.

In the worst case scenario, a BRO of 2-3 years is not a major issue anyway

P1BP27

I can't evidence the debt thats the problem as it was done in high Street bookies.... When you taken steps..to addresss the problem ya mean going to GA meetings and getting written proof ya been? 

Minkym00

£15k out of a £60 debt would be material. I assume you had a good chunk of the debt when you incurred additional credit so, as above, you are looking at a BRO. I would imagine 3.5 years for that amount. 

Did you declare your true income on the credit / loan applications?

P1BP27

I had already had 25 debt which was not gambling which was setting up new business which I can show Proof for. The gambling debt was then added onto that

Morfx

P1BP27 said:

I had already had 25 debt which was not gambling which was setting up new business which I can show Proof for. The gambling debt was then added onto that

With a 25k debt and another 15k additional gambling debt, you will get a BRO, I'd imagine from 3-4 years.. similar to my position.

P1BP27

When you mean 3 to 4 years does this mean I will still be discharged after 12 months?