Hi,

I thought I would post something for debate and see what people's thoughts are here. There has been some discussion lately amongst my peers, regarding how easy it is to go bankrupt in the UK, and the recent increase in bankruptcy tourism.

Bankruptcy tourism is where someone comes from another country, usually the EU as the UK is a part of the EU, from a country that has harsh bankruptcy/insolvency laws, and goes bankrupt in the UK; as the laws here are much more lenient.

So I pose the question, is bankruptcy in the UK too easy, and are the insolvency laws too lenient?

My thoughts on are this:

Bankruptcy in the UK is easy, easier than in many other countries. You can file your bankruptcy here on your own, without legal assistance, and the period you are bankrupt, 12 months, is a much shorter time than many other countries.

So yes, going bankrupt in the UK is easy, but I wouldn't say too easy. When people are in debt and struggling there is a lot of stress involved. Making it more difficult to go bankrupt does not really serve anyone, the debtor or the creditors. The debtors would be under more stress, and the creditors don't get anything more because if someone doesn't have any money to pay, they don't have any money to pay. Making it more difficult to go bankrupt doesn't change this.

Are the insolvency laws too lenient in the UK, again I don't think so. The UK is more consumer/debtor friendly than many other countries. We have many more options for people in debt than other countries; such as an IVA, debt management plan, or a Debt Relief Order, Administration Order and also bankruptcy. So I see that as not being too easy or lenient, but offering more options to try and solve the situation.

I could write more on this, but let's hear what others have to say.

Regards,

Jon

In reading your post Jon and thinking about what you stated, I don't think that bankruptcy is too easy here, but I do take issue with people coming from other countries to live here just to make use of our insolvency laws.

In my mind it just ties in with the whole immigration issue here and that we have let too many people just enter our country and make use of the benefits and all our other resources. One of those being our insolvency laws.

DH