Taking the bankruptcy boat to Britain

“Today, certain people file for bankruptcy, businesses and individuals and it no longer has the stigma it once had. Now it’s almost considered wise, a way to regroup and come back again.” – David Dinkins (1927- )

A well-known Irish media figure was recently reported to be aiming to catch the boat to England. The euphemistic vessel is not the one that has ferried emigrants from Ireland’s shores through the decades in search of work. Nor is it the one that has secreted away pregnant Irish girls to rid themselves and perhaps their families reputations of unwanted pregnancies.
No, this is a new type of boat, which has been becoming increasingly popular with those in Ireland whose debts have become something they want rid of.
They want a line in the sand and a fresh start with their debts wiped and written off. They are fleeing to Britain to do this because the law over there is far more lenient on those declaring bankruptcy than in Ireland. Whereas in Ireland a person seeking the protection of bankruptcy must wait 12 years before the debts are fully discharged; the law in Britain allows this process to go through in just 12 months.
This has not always been the case. The law in Britain was changed only in the last few years to be more like the American state of affairs, which sees bankruptcy as a natural stop on the road to success as an entrepreneur. Although in Ireland, as in Britain, the entrepreneur has come to be seen as some kind of god-like saviour in the last decade, Irish law has not caught up with the rhetoric about where the economic future of the nation lies.
The result is ‘bankruptcy tourism’ whereby the put upon person with unserviceable debts can move themselves to Britain for four months then quietly file the paperwork that will see their debts wiped out, leaving them only with a soiled credit rating.
The best thing about this practice is that it is 100% legal and valid. As an EU citizen, anybody is entitled to do this and should fear no legal reprimand for doing so.
We are routinely told that the best thing about an entrepreneur is that when they spot an opportunity they grab it by the throat and beat every bit of money out of it they can. Isn’t that why we all love them? The can-do-spirit would lift your heart.
These go-getters are the future, they really are. One such wily businessman has set up a company to facilitate the needs of Irish people seeking to have their debts wiped away in Britain.
I wont give him the free advertising of mentioning the name but you will find him easily enough by logging on from your own home computer. This man will take care of all the paperwork for you and allow you to be free from those pesky creditors who have the gall to want you to give them all that money you owe them. According to client testimonies on the website, the service offered is comprehensive and makes the whole process completely painless.
There have been, in recent months, a number of very high-profile cases involving people from all over Ireland, where debts that would melt calculators have been dealt with in this way. A less reported aspect of the story is the plight of those who have been left owed significant sums by the individual or company seeking bankruptcy protection. The sums owed have, in some cases, driven people out of business and pushed others very close.
These people provide employment and benefit the local economy, just like the entrepreneurs who amassed the eye-wateringly large debts but they maybe managed their growth a little better. This matters for little however, when they are offered whatever percentage of what they are owed they must take what they can and hope it will be enough to get on with. Meanwhile, the person who gorged their greedy snout, to an obscene degree, in the trough of casino capitalism can flee the country and secure a perfectly legal, quickie bankruptcy ruling in Britain.
Another benefit of the British system is that it will allow you to retain your personal pension after you have been declared bankrupt thus sparing what, in some cases, will be a considerable nest egg to allow you time to plan your next move.
At this point in proceedings, I have to declare a little hypocrisy on my part. There are many hundreds if not thousands of people all over Ireland who were foolish enough to buy the fools gold pawned by the financial industry and reinforced by a mass hysteria around it, that millions could be made overnight at no cost to anyone.
They accepted insane debts to invest and now find themselves essentially crucified by the banks and with unserviceable debts. When I read about these people taking the boat, signing the papers and getting bankruptcy protection, I say fair play to them. Stick it to the banks and let them suffer for their folly, greed and general wretchedness.
Of course, this rings very hollow in light of what I wrote in the initial half of this column but life can sometimes be a little bit like that, I suppose.
At the end of the day, nobody wants to see people who made an honest mistake and got in over their heads damned and cast out for over a decade but at the same time there are shades of grey in this. Some people were criminally reckless in their management of their own and other people’s money and they have brought terrible hardship and misery to the lives of many. It hardly seems fair that they can walk away from their debts just as easily as the ludramán who got duped by a bank into borrowing more than they should have but it would seem that is the case.
The current state of the economy and the looming vote on the fiscal compact will mean Ireland’s instability will continue for some time to come. This will no doubt lead to increasing numbers catching yet another of those boats to Britain, where easier solutions to certain problems continue to be found.