One of the downsides to declaring yourself Bankrupt used to be that it was made public by advertising the fact in the local newspaper.

This advertisement meant that anyone be they friends, family or total strangers could find out about your personal financial circumstances purely by stumbling across a copy of the newspaper which could be extremely embarrassing.

The good news is that the rules in this area changed in 2009. In the light of this we explain whether Bankruptcy is still made public and who could find out if you use this type of debt solution.

Bankruptcy is no longer advertised in the local newspaper

Since April 2009 the official receiver has no longer been obliged to advertise Bankruptcy in the local newspaper. As such such advertisement now very rarely happens other than in a few cases involving sole traders and other business people.

The reason for the change is that the Insolvency Service decided that with today’s modern credit checking techniques publicly advertising Bankruptcy so that local people can be warned is no longer necessary. Anyone who is likely to lend you money will normally carry out a credit check on you before doing so and thus discover your financial status with relative ease.

The rules still state that it remains up to the individual official receiver to decide whether to advertise or not. However in almost all cases they chose not to in order to avoid inuring the cost of placing the advert.

BMD Tip: If you declare yourself Bankrupt in Northern Ireland your name will still be advertised in the Friday edition of the Belfast Telegraph.

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Bankruptcy is recorded in the Insolvency Register

The fact that you have declared yourself Bankrupt is still a matter of public record. As such your name and address are still added to the Insolvency Register which is a list of everyone who is currently officially insolvent.

This is a public document available for anyone to read and it has been made easily accessible via the internet. This means that anyone who wants to can find out if you are bankrupt but only if they specifically search for your name on the Register.

Normally only your name, address and the date of your bankruptcy are shown in the register. However if your Bankruptcy is extended with a restriction then more details about the circumstances surrounding your bankruptcy are likely to be given.

BMD Tip: Your name does not remain in the insolvency register for ever. It will be taken off the register within 3 months after you are discharged.

Bankruptcy is recorded in the London Gazette

In addition to the Insolvency Register a record of your Bankruptcy is also to the London (Belfast or Edinburgh) Gazette. This is a publication containing the names of every person and company who has become insolvent.

The Gazette is only really seen by certain financial institutions and is rarely read by the public. Nevertheless it is still important to be aware that the records of the Gazette are publicly available on line and thus can be accessed relatively easily.

Unlike the record in the Insolvency Register the Gazette records are not deleted once you are discharged. They remain in the Gazette archives as a publicly available record of the fact that you were previously Bankrupt which anyone can search at any time.

Do not worry about people finding out about your Bankruptcy

The good news for most people is that Bankruptcy is not advertised in the local newspaper. This means that it is extremely unlikely that anyone who knows you will find out that you have been made bankrupt.

In addition very few people will be directly told that you are Bankrupt. This list is normally restricted to your creditors and any other banks that you have accounts with. Your employer will not be told.

However bankruptcy is still a matter of public record. If someone knows your name and wants to find out if you are currently bankrupt or were bankrupt in the past, it is relatively easy for them to do so by searching either the insolvency register or the London Gazette archives on line.

For this reason if you want to make sure that your debt problem remains anonymous you will need to avoid Bankruptcy and consider a Debt Management Plan (DMP) instead which is informal and not recorded.