Would you judge someone if you found they were bankrupt?

[rabbit12345]

This question. How would you/would you judge someone who had applied for bankruptcy?

Firstly as a friend or an interviewer.

I know aibu for not giving further details but I wanted a response based on the bankrupt fact not the reasons why etc..I will explain why though after considering the responses.

As a friend no.

As an interviewer....sadly maybe.

Yes and no, there are many reasons for going down that route.

We declared when we left the UK so we could have a clean break and fresh start.

Firstly what would it have to do with an interviewer (I’m assuming a job). Unless you work in the finance industry it is not their business so I would decline to answer any finance questions.

Secondly as a friend I would assume that the person had fallen on difficult times and offer help and guidance not pass judgement.

I happily judge people with poor credit. Someone bankrupt I'd be extra judgey. Especially as I'd wonder if they'd done it to wipe their debt. Used to be real shame in bankruptcy now it's commonly done.

As a friend - not at all been close myself.

As an interviewer - would depend on job and company policy. Certain jobs require credit checks as they're handling other people's money/account info and there's high temptation.

Yes. On the surface yes. If I got to know them and found they’d been left in insurmountable debt by a feckless partner or due to long term illness etc My feelings would change.

They’d not get an interview in my work, you can’t have a ccj or bankruptcy and have a job here.

I might think they were feckless or a risktaker. Or something else like unlucky.
But so much depends on the circumstances, including how I found out.

No, because we’ve been there. Sadly, before that, maybe. I had no idea that sometimes you could do all te right you things for years and be so affected by external forces.

It depends on why they went bankrupt. And how seriously they took it. If they had made some bad choices and circumstances caught them out and had learned from it then probably not. If they’d run up £100k living the high life and then thought themselves playing the system by going bankrupt to avoid repayment (and I’ve met people like this) I’d judge the shit out of them.

I think I could judge based on knowing more of the circumstances, yes.

If I felt that their bankruptcy had left real people out of pocket (suppliers or customers) and could have been prevented but was based upon wilfully bad decision making or greed.

I basically stand by the principle of paying your debts.

It depends are they bankrupt more than once or are they disregarding bankruptcy rules.

That I would judge negatively but once assuming they are not a wealthy person who did it and stiched up loads of people then if anything I would judge it as the responsible thing to do is a tricky situation

No anyone can hit upon hard times. Who is anyone to judge anyone. There but for the grace of God.

Not at all. I've been bankrupt myself and it was definitely the best decision. I would never reveal it to a friend or apply for any job where a credit check was necessary. If anyone found out, I wouldn't feel under obligation to explain or justify it and I wouldn't expect anyone else to - they have done all of that during the bankruptcy process.

Thank you for your honesty. I am currently facing bankruptcy. I am currently feeling ashamed at some of the business decisions that I took that led me here (although Failing health played a role) I have just had a family member talking about someone who has gone bankrupt and although they had their facts wrong (said it would stop them getting any job) I was alarmed enough to ask here.

Why would I even know, for either? But no, not at all.

I think it probably depends too much
If it's failed business, then unless you're interviewing them to run your business, no I wouldn't.
If it's through gambling or some sort of addiction, then yes I probably would, although I would also admire them if they'd come out the other side for having the strength to do that.
If it's through stupid decisions, as a friend, no-but I might be careful about what I agreed to with them, I suppose, as an interviewer, depends partially on the decisions but more so.

We have bad credit and nearly lost our house. Because dp was self employed and I selfishly had post natal depression. I couldn't take care if my baby so the only option was for dp to do it. He lost his job. We were living on credit cards to pay mortgage and buy food. We are still struggling 10 years on and will never get credit again.

Judge away

As an interviewer then it would be important. But would really depend on the circumstances- does this show me an individual who has shown significant poor judgment and who has failed to act with integrity? Also I work in financial services where there are restrictions on undischarged bankrupts holding certain posts.

No I would not judge , nobody knows people's circumstances.

Rabbit do you absolutely have to go bankrupt? We were able to narrowly avoid it. Feel free to pm me

Lack of integrity? Fuck off

No. Not unless I knew other things about the person which led me to think this way.
There could be all sorts of reasons - including I suppose past relationships and failed businesses.

I think that sometimes, the difference between a successful entrepreneur who is respected for bravely putting everything they had and more into a business (and having it pay off), and a bankrupt person who foolishly lost everything by taking imprudent business risks is pure luck. Yet the former will be lauded and the latter most definitely not.

Depends what the job is - I think that in some very specific roles, which come with the potential opportunity to steal/defraud money, employers will be cautious of hiring someone known to be under financial pressure as desperate people are more likely to abuse a position of trust.

@OurMiracle1106 I’ve worked in plenty of. on finance roles and the (compulsory) question has been given on an application form.

It depends on the situation.
As an interviewer, depending on the position I probably would tbh (if it was a position with a higher level of responsibility for example)

As a friend, probably not unless the person did a ‘woe is me’ for years and made no effort to resolve debt before bankruptcy.

It depends on why. If they gambled their money or spent it on drugs or on a prostitute addiction then yes I'd definitely judge both a friend and an interviewee. (Literally happened to my uncle and he was a scummy deadbeat so have no sympathy!)

Really depends on the situation. I'd like to know more

No Rabbit,I wouldnt think anything of it.