December 2005
PART 4
11.43 Interview to be conducted face to face
(amended February 2014)
The bankrupt should be required to attend upon the official receiver at his/her office for interview. The combined package BKTINITIAL note 1 should be sent fixing a date and time for the interview.
Where the bankrupt is unable to attend upon the official receiver for reasons of ill health, or another valid reason, the official receiver may, at his/her discretion, conduct the interview by telephone or visit the bankrupt's home to conduct the interview there. Where the interviewer is to attend at the bankrupt's home for interview, the safety guidance for staff contained in Chapter 8 Part 2 - Inspections should be followed.
Bankruptcy Interviews - Creditor's Petition Cases
1. BKTINITIAL is a combined package that includes;
2. preliminary information questionnaire (bankruptcy) - PIQB
3. Preliminary additional questions form - PREADD
4. Narrative sheet form - PRENAR
11.44 Preliminary Information Questionnaire
(amended February 2014)
A preliminary information questionnaire (PIQB) note 2 must be sent to the interviewee with the combined package BKTINITIAL note 1 for completion prior to the interview. The interviewee should bring the completed PIQB with him/her when he/she attends for interview. If the PIQB is not completed or is only partially completed, the interviewee should be invited to complete it before the interview begins. At the beginning of the interview the interviewee should be asked if he/she completed the PIQB by himself/herself, or if any assistance was received from anyone else. This information should be recorded by the official receiver at the start of the supplementary information sheets on the additional questions form note 3 completed by the official receiver during the interview. Where the questionnaire has been completed by a third party, the interviewee must be asked to explain the circumstances and reasons for this, and this information must be recorded at the start of the additional questions form note 3.
Bankruptcy Interviews - Creditor's Petition Cases
1. BKTINITIAL is a combined package that includes;
2. preliminary information questionnaire (bankruptcy) - PIQB
3. Preliminary additional questions form - PREADD
4. Narrative sheet form - PRENAR
11.45 Interviewee unable to complete the PIQB
If the interviewee is unable to complete the PIQB due to illiteracy, blindness or some other disability, the questions in the PIQB should be read out to the interviewee exactly as they are written, and the interviewee's answers recorded fully and accurately in the interviewee's own words as far as possible.The questions in the PIQB should be read out exactly as printed so that the interviewee cannot claim at a later date that he/she thought he/she was answering a different question, which could throw doubt on the accuracy of the information given. The questionnaire should be endorsed by the person who reads and records the answers.
If the interviewee is unable to read, the official receiver should ensure that the interviewee is given the opportunity to ask questions and that the bankruptcy processes are fully explained to him/her as he/she should not be presumed to understand the written guides. Where the questionnaire has been completed by a third party, the official receiver should separately record who has completed it and why and obtain confirmation from the interviewee that the answers are indeed his/hers.
11.46 Amendments and additions to the PIQB
No amendments should be made to the PIQB after it has been signed and dated by the interviewee. The official receiver must not alter, delete or add to any answer in the PIQB. At the beginning of the interview, the official receiver should check that all alterations in the PIQB have been initialled and dated by the interviewee, and that the interviewee has signed and dated the PIQB in the appropriate places. The official receiver should also draw the interviewee's attention to the Perjury Act 1911 section 5 at the beginning of the PIQB, and check that the interviewee has completed and signed the declaration that this has been drawn to his/her attention.
The official receiver should then go through the completed PIQB with the interviewee. Where the interviewee has not answered a question, or the information given is incomplete or needs to be expanded upon, the official receiver should question the interviewee accordingly and record the information given on the additional questions form. The official receiver should not ask every question in the PIQB again just to verify information already given, but should only seek further information where the answer given in the PIQB is incomplete, inadequate or contradicts information given elsewhere in the PIQB or already known by the official receiver. If an interviewee insists on giving an apparently inaccurate or inappropriate response to a question in the PIQB, even after the official receiver has drawn his/her attention to the discrepancy in the information provided, what is said by the interviewee must be recorded. The fact that the discrepancy has been drawn to the interviewee's attention must be recorded with an entry along the lines of:
"It has been pointed out to me that....However I maintain....".
Matters of apparent inaccuracy or inadequacy of information provided in the PIQB and additional questions form may be covered in more detail in a narrative statement taken. See also paragraph 11.28.
When all additional information required to complete the PIQB has been obtained and recorded on the additional questions form, the interviewee should be asked to read through the additional questions form and initial and date all alterations made, sign and date at the bottom of each page, and at the end of the statement. The interviewer should sign the bottom of each page and at the end of the statement as a witness.
11.47 PIQ question not understood by interviewee
If the interviewee does not understand the meaning of a question in the PIQB, the official receiver should try to rephrase the question in such a way that the interviewee can understand and answer the question. Where the interviewee still cannot understand or answer the question, this should be recorded in the additional questions form.
11.48 Taking a narrative statement
In some cases in addition to the information contained in the PIQB and additional questions form it may be useful to take a narrative statement from the interviewee.Examples of cases where a narrative may be appropriate are as follows:
Where the history of how the debts were incurred is complex,
Where there are asset transactions that are complex and require further investigation and explanation,
Where the bankrupt has run a business or businesses, the trading history of that business or those businesses,
Where there are matters that indicate possible areas of misconduct.
The interviewee's attention should be drawn to the Perjury Act 1911 section 5 before the narrative statement is taken.
11.49 Contents of narrative statement
The Narrative sheet form note 4 should be used at the start of the narrative statement, and the interviewee should be asked to read through and sign and date each page of the statement taken, and any alteration made.Once signed and dated, no alterations should be made to the statement.
A narrative statement may be used to amplify one or more points from the PIQB, or particularly where the case is complex and/or there are matters of possible further investigation, it may be used to give a concise chronological history of the insolvency and the dates and facts that explain the reason for the insolvency. The narrative statement may cover, amongst other matters;
details of the formation of the business, dealing with any predecessor business,
how the business operated and how trading was financed,
details of any accounts prepared and what accounting records were kept, and by whom they were maintained,
why the business failed (if it failed) and when and why the business ceased to trade,
where assets have been disposed of in the relevant period before the bankruptcy order, when they were disposed of, to whom, for what consideration and why the bankrupt entered into the transaction,
explanations for any large losses incurred,
how the debts were incurred, and where the debts relate to consumer credit obtained, what the credit obtained was spent on,
where the bankrupt did not run a business, brief details of his/her employment history,
when the bankrupt realised that he/she was insolvent, and
the reasons for the insolvency.
Where a narrative is lengthy and/or deals with complex matters, it may be worthwhile to use sub-headings to divide it, e.g. disposal of asset detail, places of business, trading history, why business ceased to trade, etc.
See also paragraph 11.17 on the disclosure of statements to a trustee.
11.50 Statement taken from a third party
Where a statement is taken from a third party, the heading of the statement should read "Statement made in pursuance of section 289 of the Insolvency Act 1986" etc. A Perjury Act warning is not appropriate.
11.51 Statement taken in manuscript form
If the statement is taken down in manuscript form, the interviewee should initial and date all alterations and each page should be signed and dated on the day on which the statement is taken. A manuscript statement may be particularly useful where there is a prospect (e.g. previous history of non co-operation) that the interviewee will not sign and return any statement subsequently sent to him/her.
11.52 Statement taken directly onto a PC
Where a statement is taken directly onto a PC, the print out should be signed and dated, with any alterations also being initialled and dated. Where any versions of the typed narrative are printed off and amended by the interviewee, they should be retained on the official receiver’s file.
11.53 Statement prepared at a later date from notes taken at interview
If the narrative is drafted after the interview using notes made during the interview, the interviewee should be asked to initial and date each alteration and sign each page of the notes. The notes must be preserved so that if the interviewee later fails to sign the typed statement or disputes its contents there will be evidence as to what was said during the original interview. The interviewee should be told that he/she will be asked to sign, date and return a typed statement that will be posted to him/her within 7 working days. The typed statement must not include any information which is not contained in the notes and, while there may be a desire to tidy up the grammar, syntax, etc, it is crucial that the essence is not changed and no attempt is made to give more or less emphasis or prominence to facts than is reflected in the notes or to insert something by way of clarification - for example by adding "per annum" after "I drew £25,000 from the company" if "per annum" is not written in the notes. A copy of the notes must be available to the interviewee when he/she is asked to sign the typed statement. Any matters which might/should have been dealt with in the interview but not reflected in the notes can only be dealt with by way of a further statement.
11.54 Signature and witnessing of statement
At the conclusion of the interview, the interviewee should read through the statement, initial and date any amendments made during the course of the interview or asked for during the read through and then sign and date the bottom of each page and at the end of the statement. The final signature should be witnessed by the interviewer. Once signed and dated and the interview completed, no answer given and recorded should be added to, deleted or altered. Such amendments should be regarded as additional information (even if they constitute a deletion) and recorded in the form of an additional narrative statement (taken at that time or at a later date).
11.55 Interviewee unable to read statement
If the interviewee is unable to read the statement, the statement must be read to the interviewee by a third party. On the last page of the statement the person who read it out must endorse it as follows:
"On (date) I (name) (occupation) of (address) read out this statement to (name of interviewee) who signed it in my presence." The endorsement must be signed and dated by the person who made the endorsement. Where the interviewee is unable to sign the statement, the person who reads out the statement to the interviewee should refer to this in their endorsement, indicating why it was not possible for the interviewee to sign the statement.
11.56 Interviewee refuses to answer question, sign statement or is abusive
If the interviewee declines to sign any questionnaire, schedule or statement until he/she has taken further advice, or if the interviewee is unsure, seems worried or confused, then the official receiver should agree (and record) the need for the return of the signed document(s) within a specified timescale. A copy should be kept of any documents taken away. If the interviewee refuses to answer questions put to him/her by the official receiver at all, his/her duty to co-operate with the official receiver under section 291 and the potential consequences of non co-operation should be drawn to the interviewee's attention. Where the interviewee still refuses to answer, a file note should be made by the official receiver which details the questions asked and if a reason has been given, why the interviewee refuses to answer. Where the interviewee refuses to sign the additional questions form or any narrative statement taken, a similar file note should be made by the official receiver to record the refusal and the reason why the interviewee will not sign if a reason has been given.
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