When do your bankruptcy restrictions end?
Bankruptcy usually lasts for 12 months from the date that the court made you bankrupt. After this time, your bankruptcy and the bankruptcy restrictions usually come to an end. However, the restrictions can continue for 2 to 15 years after your bankruptcy ends if careless, criminal or dishonest behaviour were the main causes of your bankruptcy.
Reporting on the causes of your bankruptcy
After you have been made bankrupt, the Official Receiver (the court’s bankruptcy officer) will write a report on the causes of your bankruptcy. The report will help the Official Receiver identify any careless or dishonest behaviour. Examples of this include:
- being bankrupt for the second time in six years
- selling your assets for less than their real value – for example, your home or car
- providing false information to get credit – for example, on an application form for a loan
- taking on debts you knew you could not repay – for example, credit card debts
- carrying on a business when you knew you could not repay your business debts
To help the Official Receiver write their report, you will be asked to provide copies of:
- bank statements
- letters to and from your creditors (people you owe money to)
- financial application forms – for example, for overdrafts, loans or credit cards
You must co-operate with the Official Receiver and provide the information they ask for. Failure to provide the information can lead to further court action.
How the bankruptcy restrictions can be extended
The bankruptcy restrictions will continue after your bankruptcy ends if the court agrees with the findings of the Official Receiver’s report. This report must be sent to the court by the Official Receiver within 12 months of your bankruptcy being made. After this time, the court will not accept their request.
There are three steps in the process.
Step one: the Official Receiver will send you a copy of their report. You have 14 days to confirm you have received it. You can do this by writing to the court that dealt with your bankruptcy or going there in person.
Step two: the Official Receiver will ask you to agree to continue with the bankruptcy restrictions after your bankruptcy ends.
If you agree, you will not have to go to court and the length of time the bankruptcy restrictions continue for may be reduced. This type of agreement is called a Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking.
