Last updated: 23/07/2020 | Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes

Life after bankruptcy - what now?

If you have had your bankruptcy officially decreed, then you will normally be "discharged" from your court order exactly one year after your bankruptcy was formally declared. It will only be longer than this if you have failed to cooperate with your court trustee or if you have failed to meet any of the terms laid down by your county court. You can find out the exact date of your discharge by checking the publicly available Individual Insolvency Register online.

In This Guide:

• Proof of discharge
• Individual insolvency registers
• Credit rating
• Debts after bankruptcy

Proof of discharge

Normally you will be discharged from your bankruptcy order automatically; a consequence of this is that you will not be contacted by the courts to let you know that it has taken place. If you would like proof of your discharge you can ask your official receiver to send you a letter of confirmation at no cost. Alternatively you can contact the courts to ask for a certificate of discharge - this normally comes at a cost of around £70.

Individual insolvency registers

The individual solvency register is updated on a fairly regular basis. This means that you can expect to have been removed from this register no more than three months after your discharge. You can also expect to be removed from the Land Registry, provided that your house is no longer being used for any unsecured debts. It will take five years from the day that you were formally declared bankrupt for you to be removed from the Land Charges Register.

Credit rating

Your bankruptcy will be present on your credit rating for six years from the day that it was formally declared. It is a good idea to send a copy of your discharge confirmation to Experian or Equifax so that they are sure to update your file after 6 years.

Debts after bankruptcy

Once you have been discharged of your bankruptcy you will have had most of your debts written off. However you should remember that there are some debts that cannot be written off by declaring bankruptcy. Debts such as student loans, council tax and secured loans cannot be written off via bankruptcy. Neither can any debts that you have amassed fraudulently or any liability payments.