CCCS | InfoCentre | Northern Ireland | Bankruptcy from creditors

Bankruptcy from creditors

If you owe more than £750 to a creditor, they may attempt to make you bankrupt to recover the money from any assets you have, such as your house or savings.

The effect of this is the same as declaring yourself bankrupt, but the creditor pays the fees. There are two ways bankruptcy proceedings can be started by the creditor

Statutory demand

They must issue a document called a 'statutory demand'. This is the most common way to start bankruptcy proceedings.

Enforcement action

You have a money judgment but you have not paid and the creditor has been unable to recover the amount owed, leading to the Enforcement of Judgments Office (EJO) issuing a ‘certificate of unenforceability’

If you receive a statutory demand, you should call us immediately for further advice. You only have eighteen days to respond, so you must act quickly.

Creditors sometimes issue statutory demands as a threat and may have no intention of making you bankrupt, but you must not ignore it. The effects of bankruptcy are extremely serious, for example you could lose your home and other assets.

You can find out more about bankruptcy from the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment.

FAQs

Are any debts excluded from bankruptcy?

If you are a homeowner and you remain living in the property after bankruptcy your mortgage and any other secured loans would still need to be paid
Student loans would be excluded
Most court fines would be excluded. You would need to make an arrangement to pay these
Child maintenance arrears cannot be included. You would need to make an arrangement to pay these

Will bankruptcy affect my job?

It may do. If you are unsure whether bankruptcy may affect your job, you must check the terms and conditions of your contract of employment. You can also speak to your union representative or personnel department.

You are not able to act as a director of a limited company.