Bankruptcy

[henrythewasp]

In 2004 i was made bankrupt but i had moved away due to ill health before i knew.The status is....Discharge suspended indefinately.....Can anyone please tell me what this means and if my bankruptcy would have only lasted the year and then lifted as it normally is?......Thank you in advance.

[bednobs]

i think it means that you have not been discharged from being bankrupt. you just need to get in touch with the OR that handled your case

[Buenchico]

>>>"I had moved away due to ill health before I knew".

Does that mean that you never actually complied with your legal obligations as a bankrupt? i.e. the law required you to hand over all of your assets to the Receiver (other than those which he permitted you to keep) and then to hand over all of your income to him (other than an agreed amount for you to live on) for a period of one year.

If you've not met those obligations you must still do so. i.e. your bankruptcy hasn't really started yet, so it certainly can't have ended!

Chris

[lcg]

as chris states....if you never knew or cooperated with the official reciever at the time, you may have to serve your year of bankruptcy on return. not knowing about it or being ill will not excuse you from scrutiny. i would fess up and deal with the situation asap, if i were you. it's not that bad...it's the best thing i ever did! x

[venator]

The official receiver - probably represented by a young trainee - will want to close your file and make their numbers look good.

Get in touch - apologise for not keeping in touch, and you should magically emerge clean & shiny.

[tonywiltshire]

As others have stated the words mean what they say you are not discharged from your bankruptcy. Most bankrupts after April 2004 are discharged after 12 months unless the court is satisfied on the application of the OR or the trustees that the person is failing or has failed to comply with their obligation to co-operate with the OR/trustees, because presumably they did not know where to find you. According to the insolvency service about 50% of people get early discharge, the average being 7 months; this would probably not apply if the person had been made bankrupt before. You now need to contact the OR/trustees and comply with your obligations offering an explanation of why they could not locate you previously. You may find your discharge is extended for non-co-operation or a Bankruptcy restriction order is made depending on your circumstances.

Remember after discharge some debts remain, it is a myth that all debts are cancelled. Those which remain must have been prior to the bankruptcy are:

Secured creditors if your property was sold but the equity was not sufficient to pay the secured creditor, obviously it is no longer secured but the unsecured part remains enforceable.

Any benefit and tax credit overpayments.

Fines, maintenance orders & student loans.

Debts from personal injury claims or debts through fraud.

This list is not exhaustive.

[themas]

tony

Your list of debts not written off includes two which are written off:

1. Secured debts. If the security (normally a property) is sold leaving a shortfall this is included in the bankruptcy and written off, even if the shortfall does not crystalise until after discharge; &

2. Benefit & tax credit overpayments are written off unless incurred through fraud.

[tonywiltshire]

Thank you for your comments themas, I was hoping to make a generally correct but simple answer but provide as much information as possible to assist anyone that was thinking of applying for a bankruptcy order. Unfortunately you make it necessary to increase the amount stated, would it not be more constructive if you also provided useful information to those who may be thinking of bankruptcy?

The position is that secured creditors, if the home was sold but insufficient equity was raised to pay the secured lender, that debt is no longer secured, but the unsecured part will remain unenforceable provided the mortgage or secured loan was taken out prior to the bankruptcy even if the house was not sold until after the discharge; any jointly liable person will remain liable for the whole debt. If the loan remains secured the lender has 12 years in which to take action to recover the principle amount and 6 years to recover the interest

Benefit and tax credit overpayments where, although the overpayment made before the date before the date of the bankruptcy order, the recoverable decision was not made until after that date, unless the overpayment was incurred through fraud or incorrect statements which are considered fraudulent. (which the DWP believe many are).

[henrythewasp]

Hi people,me again.Thanks for all the replies but just to let you all know that i never did and still dont own any property and have always lived in council property.I never claimed any benefits until i became to ill to work and the only dept i had was a credit card.I became to ill to work when my sister died,then my father and then i was arrested for a murder of a neighbour i didnt commit but i was released and asked to give evidence and moved on police protection.So there you go,now can you see why i became ill?