Once an individual declares personal bankruptcy the majority of their debts are written off. There are some exceptions to this. Read our section on “What debts are written off” to make sure this is the case for you.

Bankruptcy is not as stigmatised as it used to be. In most instances bankrupt persons are not advertised in the local press any more unless it is a public interest case. To find out what happens to your information, read our section on publicity.

Property: If your home is in negative equity and you are considering bankruptcy, it is likely that you will be able to remain in the mortgaged property as long as you maintain mortgage and secured loan payments. You will need to confirm with the official receiver that you want to obtain the beneficial interest in the property. There is a simple and straightforward process involved with this and it is standard practice among Official Receivers. If you have significant equity in your home and you enter bankruptcy, your property might be at risk. However, the process is slow (it usually takes 12 months) and a number of options will be presented before the actual repossession procedure commences. Among these might be an agreement whereby a 3rd party purchase your share of the equity in the property. This is very common with properties that are jointly owned. Read our section titled “Will I lose my home?”.

Vehicles: In order to retain a vehicle in bankruptcy, you must be able to demonstrate that is a necessity. Usually, the vehicle would not have a value of more than £2000. In situations where a vehicle is owned and its value is significantly more than this figure, it could be sold and replaced with a cheaper vehicle. The same applies with commercial vehicles, especially if that vehicle is used as a tool of your trade. Read our section on “Will I lose my car?”.

The most common household goods in your home are safeguarded during the bankruptcy process. Read our section on “Will bailiffs take my property?” It is luxury items and valuable electronic equipment that could be taken and sold. The rule of thumb is to have what you need and no more.

Once declared officially bankrupt, an individual’s creditors must and are duty bound, to cease all actions as the debts are now expunged. This often comes as a tremendous relief to the majority of people as they begin to take control of their lives again. The main objective should always be to start again and adjust lifestyles so that the bankrupt person does not return to the same situation, with unmanageable debts, again.

We are often asked about pension release in bankruptcy, “Especially from Ireland”.  After extensive research into this sector we are pleased to confirm that if you have a private pension in Ireland then there are schemes that your pension fund can be transferred to where you can release around 35% of the pension pot. This process often takes around 9-12 weeks to complete the process.

If you are interested in looking into releasing funds from your Ireland pension, or moving your pension outside of Southern Ireland because you are considering bankruptcy and want to find out more.

Complete our call back request and an Ireland Pension Release expert will contact you.

If you have overwhelming debt or have been in a debt management plan or IVA which is failing, or your circumstances have changed and you simply cannot see yourself ever completing the plan, then why not call one of our helpful consultants who can run through the benefits and intricacies of the bankruptcy process.

2011 has seen the Insolvency Service having a surge on implementing  income payment agreements on a grand scale.

This means that if your disposable income is greater than £20 per month then the chances are that you will be subject to what is known as an IPA. Our consultants can assist you with the completion of an income and expenditure which will identify exactly what is involved.

All this can be done with what we call the discovery call which is completed on the phone. Our consultants are on hand 24 hours a day 7 days a week. So why not call our free phone number or request a call back.

You will find our consultants to be helpful, informative and a pleasure to deal with.

We cannot offer any guarantees that we can help you, but our intention is to provide you with clear and concise information and if you decide to proceed with our services then we do what we can to provide a shield around you by writing to your creditors that in some instances are hostile and aggressive towards you.

Bankruptcy UK has noticed a marked increase recently in the number of clients returning with post bankruptcy issues, following an apparent ‘tightening up’ of procedures by Official Receivers

It appears that clients are now routinely receiving Income Payments Agreements (IPAs) despite accurate Income and Expenditure documents clearly showing that there is no surplus income.

This is a worrying development and now, more than ever, the Public needs support in this critical area.

An Income Payments Agreement is an arrangement designed to return money to the creditors over a 36 month period. Therefore, even a ‘modest’ IPA of say £75 per month ends up costing £2,700 over the three year period, something that might be the difference between survival, or not.

Bankruptcy UK has now set up a dedicated team to resolve these issues and has achieved success in challenging and overturning these IPA decisions levied by the Official Receiver’s Office.

This is unique in the Insolvency Services sector, as most companies simply produce the paperwork and ‘wave the client goodbye’.

Another area of concern is motor vehicles. The allowable limit has reduced from £2000 to £1000 and even then it is far from certain that the vehicle will be allowed. In a recent case, a married couple had a vehicle worth £800 attached on the grounds that the husband had a company car.

The fact that the husband was away on business four days a week and there were four young children to shuttle around did not impress the Official Receiver. Fortunately, Bankruptcy UK challenged the decision and had it overturned.

It appears that there has been some type of directive to ‘crack down’ on bankrupts and to obtain a monthly payment at all costs. Of course, no one will admit to this, but when you are in the thick of it any change becomes immediately apparent.

Now, more than ever, professional assistance with bankruptcy is of great importance.