D.I.Y. Bankruptcy - An Invitation to Deceive?

If current Government proposals come into force, bankruptcy will become a D.I.Y, on-line, tick-the-boxes, out-of-Court process. The aim is to dispense with the delay that some debtors experience between the presentation of the Petition and the making of the Bankruptcy Order, relieve the over-burdened Court system, and save money.

Those are excellent objectives - and the present insolvency system is, frankly, a mess and in urgent need of reform - but I don't believe that this particular 'fast-track' idea will prove to be viable, however sophisticated the on-line system can be made to be.

Philip King, the Chief Executive of the Institute of Credit Management, would like to see a system where every debtor seeking insolvency has a face-to-face meeting with someone who can fully explain all the available options and their consequences - and that would indeed be the most sensible solution, because counselling and advice is an essential part of getting people out of trouble in such a way as to benefit them AND their creditors.

In the absence of such a system, Mr. King believes that there should at least be an objective 'score card' system based on the questions and answers given, but - in my opinion - that idea (along, in fact, with the whole on-line tick-the-box idea) is a non-runner.

It's all too easily manipulated. This whole system would depend upon people giving truthful answers - and unscrupulous people looking to use the system to their own advantage would quickly learn which answers are the 'right' ones. Actually, we could all work that one out.

There are, of course, going to be people who have to make decisions about the on-line input - but how are they to separate fact from fiction? And who is to monitor to the quality of their decisions?

In my opinion, fast-track bankruptcy as it is proposed at the moment is an invitation to dishonest people to 'opt out', leave a trail of unpaid creditors in their wake, and get off scot free.

Bad idea. Again...