The Official Receiver is the title given to a civil servant from The Insolvency Service who is appointed by the court to administer and dispose of your assets when you have been declared bankrupt.

Official Receiver offices are found in large towns and cities throughout England and Wales and each office will cover surrounding county courts.

As such, The Official Receiver is not a single person as some people believe. There are in fact 35 Official Receivers covering England and Wales and your bankruptcy will be administered by a member of staff working for your local Official Receiver's office.

When you are made bankrupt, the court will inform the local Official Receiver's that a bankruptcy order has been made.

He or she will then act as your trustee in bankruptcy unless the court appoints an insolvency practitioner to take this role.

Assuming that it is the Official Receiver who will be acting as your trustee, he or she will be responsible for looking after your financial affairs during your bankruptcy and also your financial affairs prior to you being made bankrupt.

The Official Receiver must also report to the court any matters which indicate that you may have committed criminal offences in connection with your bankruptcy.

A member of staff from the Official Receiver’s office will contact you within two working days of receiving notice from the court and may contact you immediately if they know that urgent action is needed in relation to your assets.

You may be asked to attend the Official Receiver’s office for an interview, normally within ten working days of the order being received.

Alternatively, The Official Receiver can suggest a telephone interview, again normally within ten working days of receiving the order.

Telephone interviews are normally carried out where you have presented your own petition for bankruptcty, when you have not recently traded, if you have not previously been made bankrupt and where a telephone number for you is available.

If you are offered a telephone interview, but would prefer to be interviewed in
person, you can request this.

Whether you are interviewed in person or by telephone, you will receive a letter
setting out what is required of you and you may be required to complete a
questionnaire.

The more organised you are, the more straightforward the process will be.

Fill in the questionnaire (if you have been asked to complete one) and make a note of any points you do not understand.

If a telephone interview has been arranged, the questionnaire will need to be returned by a certain date prior to the interview. If you are being interviewed in person, take it with you.

You will also need to collect together all the financial records, paperwork, and any other information you will need for the interview.

This means all accounting records;

financial papers (for example letters, statements, bank records, hire-purchase agreements, credit card statements)

the last set of your accounts if you are self-employed

any other relevant paperwork about you (and your business if applicable)

You will need to have your financial records, paperwork and any other information
available when the telephone interview takes place.

If you are being interviewed in person, you should take the completed questionnaire and the financial records, paperwork and any other information with you to the interview.

A face to face interview will take place in a private room and can last up to 2-3 hours.

Your questionnaire (if you have been asked to complete one) will be checked by a member of the Official Receiver’s staff. If you have not completed the questionnaire, you will be asked to do so there and then.

You will then be interviewed by an examiner, a member of staff who is a specialist in insolvency matters, who will go into the details of your or the company’s
assets and debts, and the facts and circumstances that led to bankruptcy.

You should hand over all your or the company’s financial records and papers. They will be examined and recorded then or at a later interview. They will be kept by the Official Receiver when the interview ends.

You should ask any questions that you have about the proceedings or your case when you are at the Official Receiver’s office.

Telephone interviews are usually much shorter, often lasting little more than half an hour. If you have been offered and have accepted a telephone interview, you will be telephoned by an examiner at the agreed date and time.

The examiner will start by checking the information in the questionnaire (if you have been asked to complete one) and then will ask you for any necessary additional information about your assets and debts, and the facts and circumstances that led to your insolvency.

He or she will also answer any queries you may have about the proceedings or your case.

The examiner will also tell you if you need to supply further information relating to
your affairs.

You may be asked to attend another appointment, particularly if:

The Official Receiver needs more time to complete enquiries into your or the company’s affairs

you cannot, or do not, provide all the financial records requested by the
Official Receiver

they require more details of your assets, debts and financial affairs

you cannot provide all the information that is needed

After the interview, the Official Receiver will check the information you have given and based on this will will issue a report to creditors (and shareholders in a winding-up case), setting out your assets and debts.

This report will usually be issued within eight to 12 weeks of the bankruptcy order being made and the Official Receiver will begin the task of selling any assets that you might have to settle part or all of your outstanding debts. Depending on the type of assets, this may take some time.

If you have provided all the necessary information and dealing with your assets is straightforward, you may not hear from the Official Receiver again.

If you do not co-operate with the Official Receiver’s staff, you may have to attend court to be questioned and could even be arrested if you still fail to co-operate. You could also have your discharge from bankruptcy proceedings suspended, which would mean that your bankruptcy could last much longer than the normal 12 months.