For those that need to go bankrupt, filling the forms on-line through The Insolvency Service website has proved to be a useful way of preparing the necessary paperwork.
However, as from the 3rd September 2010 the Online Forms Service, which allows for the electronic completion of bankruptcy winding up petitions and statements of affairs, will be phased out and shut down completely at 5pm on Tuesday 30th November 2010.
The filling out of forms on-line proved popular as once completed, a copy was automatically sent to the Official Receiver’s office for the area of the intended bankrupt. Copies could also be printed to be taken to the court and for the bankrupt’s reference.
Graham Horne, Deputy Chief Executive said “The decision to phase out the Online Forms Service was taken as the quality of data provided by the system was often poor.
In many cases the data needs re-inputting by our staff, feedback from stakeholders suggests the system is not user friendly, and its high maintenance costs do not justify the continuing of what was always intended to be an interim solution.
You should be aware we are seeking to move to a more effective, affordable, end to end replacement solution”.
According to The Insolvency Service’s website, any user that already has an account will have until 5pm on Friday 26 November 2010 to submit their forms, after which, a few days later, the system will be shut down completely and for reasons of Data Protection, any stored data will be deleted.
Users can find the Microsoft Word versions of the forms on The Insolvency Service’s website which can be accessed by selecting the following link.
Look for 6.17 6.28 & Guidance notes. Statutory and Insolvency-related forms link.
The documents can still be completed on any computer and saved as working files before they are printed and taken to the Court.
The alternative is to complete the forms by hand and to do this you will need to telephone your nearest county court or The High Court if you live in the London area. Ask them to send you the forms and they will also send out a helpful booklet on how to best complete the document.
Once complete, photocopy it for your reference, telephone the Court once more to make an appointment to bring the form in on which day will be the day you file your petition.
Debtwizard comment
I fully understand the decision, more so as I know what stressed debtors can be like when being asked to gather details of their creditors etc:
Over indebted consumers often need help with the forms. Many fee charging debt advice firms spend little time with a person once bankruptcy is deemed the best way forward because there are no fees to be taken as against IVAs and debt plans.
So where does the worried and stressed out consumer go? Along to the Citizens Advice Bureau. Now the problem, CAB's are seeing 9,000 NEW debt enquiries every working day, subsequently this means a lengthy delay before they can set up an appointment to go through the forms and confirm that bankruptcy is the correct solution.
I fear that the coalition budget cuts will have an impact on debt advice and guidance for consumers as the debt charities may well see a reduction to their funding when the review is announced in October, this will then compound the issue further.
Although I agree with why the on-line filing will be stopped I do wonder where this leaves the consumer as the very helpful back room service previously provided by the Insolvency Service, and unintentionally, will be sorely missed.
In my view the Insolvency Service/Government needs to offer some improved guidance to help consumers going bankrupt, and not just with the forms, they could also reduce the £600 fee per person! (this went up25% in April of this year).
