Published in Debt Advice Features on Saturday, March 17 2007

Once an individual is made bankrupt or has declared bankruptcy, their bankruptcy will be administered and monitored by either a civil servant who will be an officer of the court this person is known as the Official Receiver or by a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner. This article explains each role in more detail.

Official Receivers

The Official Receiver who works as a civil servant for The Insolvency Service will be responsible to protect an undischarged bankrupts assets and for administering their bankruptcy from the date of the bankruptcy order was made. The Official Receiver will also act as trustee of the individualҒs bankruptcy estate unless an Insolvency Practitioner is appointed.
It is the responsibility of the Official Receiver to investigate the persons financial position and look into the bankrupts financial conduct during the bankruptcy and the events that lead up to the person becoming bankrupt. They are responsible fopr carrying out these investigations and will report to the court and to the undischarged bankrupts creditors with their findings. If the Official Receiver feels and suspects any criminal offence was made in connection to their bankruptcy, the Official Receiver has to also report this to the court where the bankruptcy order was made.

Insolvency Practitioners

Insolvency practitioners are individuals who specialise in insolvency work. An insolvency practitioner can be appointed as bankruptcy trustee instead of the Official Receiver. He or she is then responsible for disposing of their assets and making payments to their creditors.