If you do not want to telephone your local county court for the forms then you now have the alternative of filling in your bankruptcy petition and the statement of affairs online. You can complete the forms in stages and save the information for later.
You then save your details online and print the forms off to hand in to the court in the usual way. The online forms service is provided by the Insolvency Service at www.insolvency.gov.uk.
* But you must telephone to book your court date (this you must do the moment you have decided to go bankrupt – the courts are very busy and it could take weeks to get a court date) and make sure you take the completed forms with you on the day of your hearing. Don’t forget the cash payment – cost as of 2006 - £460 if you lodge your own petition.
▲If you have lots of equity in your home, try and do an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA)– a formal arrangement through the county court and can be a way of avoiding bankruptcy. You need to be able to raise a lump sum to pay the creditors or to make regular payments from your income to your creditors. To arrange one you need to find an insolvency practitioner prepared to work for you.
The insolvency practitioner prepares a proposal to put forward to your creditors. If the majority of creditors agree to accept the proposal, the IVA is put in place. The one stipulation is that creditors holding at least 75 per cent value of your debts must accept your offer.
An IVA will usually last for three to five years. If the arrangement is not kept to, the insolvency practitioner or your creditors can apply for a bankruptcy order to be made instead.
Insolvency practitioners’ fees can be expensive and they will usually want some payment in advance. It is worth asking them for an initial free meeting to discuss whether an IVA is appropriate.
To set up an IVA you need an insolvency practitioner whose fees, according to the Insolvency Practitioners Association, can vary from around £1,500 to £5,000 in more complex cases. Some specialise in consumer IVA's, as opposed to business IVA's, and tend to work on a ‘pay as you go’ basis, meaning that their fee is incorporated into your repayment plan rather than being charged up front.
You can obtain names of local insolvency practitioners by contacting the court offices, the official receiver in your area, or by phoning the National Debt line - Call 0808 808 4000. Lines open
Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
Debt line also has a number of useful fact sheets which may help you come to the right decision based on your financial circumstances.
