Part 6 Debtor and creditor petitions – dealing with bankrupts
January 2012
4.116 Bankrupt’s duty to the official receiver
The bankrupt has a duty to provide the official receiver with information about his/her estate and has a further duty to attend upon the official receiver when reasonably required [Note 1]. The bankrupt should be made aware of these provisions in any initial contact with the official receiver. Section 291 of the Insolvency Act 1986 is reproduced in the NTB2 which should be either be personally served or sent to the bankrupt.
The official receiver may discover that a bankrupt is in prison, but his/her location is unknown. In these circumstances the official receiver should contact HM Prison Service, Prisoner Location Service , by e-mail. The e-mail should contain the full name of the person subject to the enquiry, any other names by which they may have been known, date of birth and the reason for the enquiry. The e-mail address is prisoner.location.service@hmps.gsi.gov.uk. If the official receiver needs to follow up the e-mail by letter, the address can be found in Annex 1. Further information and guidance on interviewing a person in prison can be found in paragraph 11.13.
4.118 Telephone contact with a bankrupt in prison
It should be noted that the possession and use of mobile phones by prisoners is a criminal offence [Note 2]. The Law Society have issued guidance to solicitors, (available here), pointing out that it may be a criminal offence for a person to contact a prisoner on a mobile phone. Under no circumstances should a prisoner be contacted within a prison by telephoning, emailing or texting a mobile phone. Where a prisoner telephones from within a prison, and it is established that he/she is using a mobile phone, the caller should be informed that they are committing an offence and that any such calls will not be accepted. The call should then be terminated.
4.119 Inability to contact the bankrupt
Where the official receiver has been unable to contact the bankrupt by telephone within the appropriate time limit (see paragraphs 4.82, 4.85 and 4.101), further attempts at different times of the day should be made. If the official receiver is unable to contact the bankrupt, no reply is received to correspondence or he/she does not attend for interview, a tracing inspection could be carried out (see Part 2 of Chapter 11 for further information) and further enquiries made to establish the bankrupt's current whereabouts.
4.120 HM Revenue and Customs – Petitioning creditor
Where the petition debt is in respect of unpaid tax and/or national insurance contributions contact should be made with the Enforcement Office, Worthing. Where the petition debt is for unpaid VAT the (VAT) Insolvency Section will provide initial enquiry information, where available, if the official receiver completes the Initial Enquiry Form (available here) and sends it to them by email.
4.121 Checking the bankrupt's identity – non-surrender cases
Where initial enquiries suggest that a person with the same name as the bankrupt resides at a different address from the order the official receiver must make some checks to ensure that this individual is the bankrupt. No contact should be made unless there are strong grounds for suspecting that the individual is the bankrupt, for example his/her name is distinct. The official receiver should firstly check with the petitioning creditor’s solicitors (see paragraphs 4.104 and 4.105), if any, to attempt to confirm that this individual is the bankrupt. Only in exceptional circumstances should the official receiver then make contact with the individual and this must be by way of a general enquiry without stating that the individual is bankrupt.
4.122 The bankrupt fails to cooperate
Where the bankrupt does not cooperate with the official receiver consideration should be given to holding a public examination [Note 3] and making an application for the bankrupt’s discharge to be suspended. An application for the suspension of discharge may be made by the official receiver or by an insolvency practitioner [Note 4]. Further information on non co-operation can be found in Chapter 13 and on suspension of discharge in Part 4 of Chapter 22.
4.123 Suspension of discharge – Individual Insolvency Register
Where the official receiver receives a copy of an order suspending the bankrupt's discharge [Note 5] the official receiver must enter the details in the ISCIS hearings tab and the following in the ISCIS compliance tab:
Once the information has been entered into ISCIS the Individual Insolvency Register will be updated automatically.
4.124 Suspension of discharge – order discharged
Where the court sends the official receiver an order discharging the suspension of the bankrupt's discharge the details must be entered onto ISCIS, including the new date for the bankrupt's discharge. If the court subsequently rescinds an order discharging the suspension of discharge, i.e. re-imposes a suspension of the bankrupt's discharge, the official receiver must amend ISCIS accordingly. After the information is entered onto ISCIS the Individual Insolvency Register will be automatically updated.
4.125 Redirection of the bankrupt's post
The official receiver may, if the circumstances warrant it, apply to the court for an order for the redirection of the bankrupt's post to his/her office. Further guidance on when to make such an application is contained in Paragraphs 13.88 to 13.95 [Note 7].
When the bankrupt contacts the official receiver with a case related query after being interviewed he/she should initially be directed to the relevant leaflet(s). The bankrupt should be informed that if, after reading the leaflet(s), there are still matters which he/she does not understand or cause concern to telephone the official receiver for further information.
4.127 Pre-bankruptcy queries from debtors
The official receiver should refer pre-bankruptcy queries to the Insolvency Enquiry Line, telephone number: 0845 602 9848. The Insolvency Enquiry Line cannot give advice or deal with case related queries unless the question is of a general nature. The official receiver should inform his/her local agencies, for example the Citizens Advice Bureau, that pre-bankruptcy queries are dealt with centrally.
4.128 Non case related enquiries
The official receiver should refer non-case related callers to The Service's wide range of leaflets and the FAQs on the internet site. If the caller requires a copy of the leaflet this should be sent to him/her. The official receiver should ask the caller to read through our material and if they still have any queries questions to contact the Insolvency Enquiry Line (telephone number 0845 602 9848).
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