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Bankruptcy reaches into every corner of someone’s financial life and beyond. It affects your ability to work in certain professions, to hold company directorships, to obtain credit for years after discharge.
The process can be brutal, but it can also provide genuine relief from debts that have become unmanageable. Tower Bridge Legal represents creditors using the bankruptcy process to recover what they’re owed and individuals facing petitions or dealing with the aftermath of bankruptcy orders.
We bring technical insolvency expertise together with understanding of the personal circumstances that often underpin financial difficulties.
Proceedings typically start with a statutory demand or bankruptcy petition, followed by investigation of the bankrupt’s affairs, realisation of assets, distribution to creditors, and eventual discharge. Disputes crop up at every stage – challenges to the underlying debt, annulment applications, claims to set aside transactions, arguments about what the bankrupt should be paying from ongoing income. We handle all of it.
Statutory Demands
A statutory demand is a formal written demand for payment of a debt over the bankruptcy threshold – currently £5,000. Failure to pay, secure, or compound for the debt within 21 days and it will be presumed unable to pay your debts. That presumption supports a bankruptcy petition.
Tower Bridge Legal assists creditors preparing and serving demands that comply with the prescribed form and procedure and represents debtors looking to set demands aside.
Set-aside applications have an 18-day window from service and require grounds – a genuine dispute about whether the debt exists, a counterclaim that equals or exceeds the demand, or procedural defects in the demand itself.
Courts won’t conduct full trials of disputed debts at this stage, but they will set aside demands where there’s a real prospect the debt isn’t actually owed or is disputed on substantial grounds. We advise debtors on whether set-aside applications have grounds and pursue those that do.
Bankruptcy Petitions
Once a statutory demand expires unsatisfied, or where inability to pay is established some other way – an unsatisfied judgement, for instance – creditors can present a bankruptcy petition.
Tower Bridge Legal handles petition proceedings for creditors from start to finish – preparation, service, advertisement, court hearings. We also represent debtors opposing petitions on grounds the debt is disputed, the debtor can actually pay, or bankruptcy just isn’t the right remedy in the circumstances.
Courts have discretion even where the statutory conditions are technically met. They’ll look at the whole picture – debtor proposals for payment, interests of all creditors, whether the petitioner has some improper motive.
We present cases that give proper weight to these discretionary factors and achieve outcomes serving our clients’ interests, whether that means getting a bankruptcy order made or persuading the court to dismiss or adjourn the petition.
Annulment Applications
A bankruptcy order can be undone. Annulment is available on grounds the order should never have been made in the first place, or that all the bankrupt’s debts and expenses have now been paid. It offers a route back for people made bankrupt on debts that were genuinely disputed, or who’ve since come into funds sufficient to clear everything.
Tower Bridge Legal represents bankrupts seeking annulment, preparing applications that tick the statutory boxes and persuade the court that annulment is warranted.
Applications arguing the order should never have been made need to show the court would have decided differently if it had known the true position at the time. Maybe the debt was disputed on substantial grounds that weren’t properly aired, the service of the petition was defective, or the debtor wasn’t actually unable to pay.
We delve into the circumstances of the original order and give transparent advice on annulment prospects before committing to proceedings.
Transactions at Undervalue and Preferences
Trustees in bankruptcy can claw back assets the bankrupt disposed of before the order was made. Transactions at undervalue – gifts or sales at way below market price – can be unwound if made within five years of bankruptcy while the person was insolvent or became insolvent as a result. Preferences, where the bankrupt put one creditor ahead of others, can be attacked if given within two years, or six months for non-associates.
Tower Bridge Legal acts for trustees bringing claims to recover assets that walked out the door before bankruptcy. We also defend recipients facing clawback claims, protecting transactions made for proper value without any intention to prejudice creditors. These cases turn on timing, the bankrupt’s financial position.
Get in touchProof of Debt Disputes
Creditors prove their claims by submitting proofs of debt to the trustee, who decides what to admit and what to reject. Disputes arise when trustees knock back proofs.
Maybe the debt isn’t properly due, it’s contingent or impossible to quantify, or the amount claimed has been inflated. Tower Bridge Legal represents creditors challenging rejections and trustees defending their decisions to reject or reduce claims.
Appeals against trustee decisions go to the court, which can confirm, reverse, or vary what the trustee decided. The court can also give directions on how disputed points should be resolved.
We handle proof disputes at every level, making sure legitimate creditor claims get recognised and estates stay protected from bogus or overblown debts.
Income Payments and Bankruptcy Restrictions
Bankrupts earning more than they need to live on may have to hand over surplus income under an income payments order or agreement. Disputes happen around how surplus income gets calculated – what counts as reasonable living expenses, how much should go to the estate, and how long payments should continue.
Tower Bridge Legal represents bankrupts negotiating agreements and challenging proposed orders that don’t properly account for what people actually need to live on.
Bankrupts whose conduct has been particularly bad may face bankruptcy restrictions orders extending the disabilities of bankruptcy beyond the normal one-year discharge.
The Official Receiver or Secretary of State can apply for these orders on grounds including failure to keep proper records, trading while insolvent, or fraudulent behaviour. We represent individuals facing restrictions proceedings, ensuring their conduct is fairly presented and any restrictions imposed are proportionate to what’s actually proved.
Practical Support Through Difficult Circumstances
Bankruptcy often caps months or years of mounting financial pressure. The individuals caught up in it may be dealing with stress, uncertainty, and the stigma that still attaches to insolvency despite how common it’s become.
Our civil litigation team provides practical support alongside technical advice, explaining what’s happening in plain terms, managing expectations honestly, and pursuing outcomes that give clients the best shot at moving forward.
Whether you’re a creditor chasing a substantial debt or someone facing bankruptcy proceedings, contact Tower Bridge Legal to talk through your situation with solicitors who know this area inside out.
