Insolvency Blog - IVAs & Personal Bankruptcy
Wife’s claim of misrepresentation to set aside personal guarantee
Date: 25th July, 2011 | Author: Caroline Stark | Comments: 0
It is standard practice for UK banks to require anyone giving a personal guarantee whose relationship with the debtor is not purely commercial, typically a wife for her husband’s business, to take independent legal advice and follow the guidelines laid down in the Etridge case [2001]. In a recent case a loan to a hotel development company, of which both the husband and wife were directors and shareholders, was provided on the basis of personal guarantees secured by way of a charge on the matrimonial home. The company ran out funds and the bank appointed Administrative Receivers who sold...
Individual insolvencies unexpectedly fall
Date: 1st August, 2008 | Author: Caroline Stark | Comments: 0
The number of individuals becoming insolvent fell 8.3% to 24,553 in the second quarter, surprising analysts who expected to see an increase as evidence that higher living costs were impacting upon people's finances. Individual insolvencies were made up of 15,297 bankruptcies (down 6% on the same quarter a year ago) and 9,256 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) (down 12%). Interestingly there was a pronounced shift towards debtors' petitioning for their own bankruptcy as, in the second quarter of 2008, 84% of bankruptcy orders were made on a debtor’s petition. Nevertheless, we must look at these statistics with an element of caution as they may have been skewed...
Bankruptcy annulment
Date: 16th June, 2008 | Author: Caroline Stark | Comments: 4
The High Court insists on payment of the bankruptcy debts and expenses being made in full before granting an annulment order, whereas in the county courts orders are often granted based upon undertakings to pay. In the case of Halabi v London Borough of Camden and another Mrs Halabi applied for an annulment under section 282 of the Insolvency Act 1986 on the basis that the debts and expenses of the bankruptcy had been paid or secured. Her solicitor gave an undertaking to hold the funds in his client account until the annulment order was made by the court. It was ruled...
Warning over spiralling borrowing
Date: 2nd June, 2008 | Author: Caroline Stark | Comments: 0
According to price comparison website Uswitch, in 2007 1.3 million debt consolidation loans were issued to people aiming to manage all their debt in one package. Additionally, a recent survey from YouGov has shown that 25% of people taking out a consolidation loan have gone on to borrow more and failed to discharge their existing debts. The new voluntary Banking Code, which came into force in April 2008, says that banks must do more to help customers in financial difficulty and issue more warnings about the dangers of failing to pay off other debts. Consolidation loans have proved controversial, although they are attractive...
Bankruptcy - discharge and proofs of debt
Date: 16th January, 2008 | Author: Chris Laughton | Comments: 0
Three interesting procedural points relating to the bankruptcy of individuals arose in Law Society v Dixit Shah [2007] EWHC 2841 (Ch), where recovery was sought from bankrupt solicitors' professional indemnity insurers. Discharge of a bankrupt merely extinguishes a creditor's remedy of enforcement, not the underlying cause of action. The court can accept or reject a proof of debt (under its general jurisdiction from Section 363 of the Insolvency Acy 1986) without the trustee having considered the matter first. A proof may be admitted or rejected for reasons other than determining a right to vote or participate in a dividend, where the proof of...
Relief4Debt
Date: 26th December, 2006 | Author: Chris Laughton | Comments: 0
You won't find a lot about personal insolvency on this blog, although I may visit the subject from time to time. If you need help or advice relating to personal debt, I (for fairly obvious reasons) recommend relief4debt.co.uk....
