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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you judge someone if you found they were bankrupt?

188 replies

rabbit12345 · 12/01/2018 14:24

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.

OP posts:
KungFuEric · 12/01/2018 14:51

LEM I think the lack of integrity is more for people who go bankcrupt through a business, where people continue to operate/receive cash or goods knowing that they will not be able to meet their end of the deal. This does happen and there is a lack of integrity within that.

Rather than personal debts which can come with different circumstances and issues.

Snowysky20009 · 12/01/2018 14:52

Is that your only option? Have you tried or considered debt management? (Apologies if you have)

gillybeanz · 12/01/2018 14:52

As a friend I would offer all the support I could and be there for you. I would help with practical things, like cooking and cleaning whilst you did paperwork etc.
Running errands and accompanying you to any meetings, generally offering moral support.

As an interviewer, maybe depending on the job.
If it was to manage budgets and you had lost a business to bankruptcy then maybe. Or if the position was not available to somebody who was bankrupt, I'm sure I read there were some roles.

TheHungryDonkey · 12/01/2018 14:52

I had a job once years and years ago interviewing people on the phone for financial related jobs. Candidates were not allowed to be hired if they had a CCj.

I remember one woman in tears on the phone because her husband had died and she got into a financial mess. She applied for the job as a step to putting her life back together and I had to break it to her that we couldn’t progress the interview.

That call has stuck with me for over ten years and I’ve always hoped things got better for her.

I would never judge.

museumum · 12/01/2018 14:54

As an interviewer if it matters then it matters (eg jobs in finance). If it’s not on the screening then I wouldn’t know or want to know.

As a friend - a one off disaster unlikely to be repeated I wouldn’t judge. But a generally high risk taking attitude to money and debt and repeated bankruptcy I would. I’m self employed so not totally risk adverse but I also know there should be ways to avoid bankruptcy before it gets anywhere near that far.

ImAMarshmellow · 12/01/2018 14:54

MIL was made bankrupt about 6 years ago. Doesn't affect me, and I don't have an issue with it.

As an employer? Depends on the job. In a Financial setting I may be slightly concerned (depending on their role), if there job doesn't require them to deal with accounts/money etc wouldn't be an issue.

Original poster
rabbit12345 · 12/01/2018 14:54

LEM same here, I was self employed and had some health problems so my business started to hit a bad patch. One supplier offered to help by way of extending credit which I accepted but after taking the credit the person left the company and the firm ended the terms of repayment and demanded immediate repayment, stopping any further orders with them. This halved my business and I couldn’t recover. I have other suppliers with 10 year relationships which I will be letting down also by going bankrupt. As I was a sole trader the debt is combined with personal debts. I now work part time but this covers basics and nothing towards the debts. The phone is ringing all day long. I don’t know what to do.

OP posts:
ReanimatedSGB · 12/01/2018 14:54

Nope. Not my business - and it's not uncommon, given low-wage economy, the clusterfuck that is the benefit system and the aggressive selling of payday loans at ridiculous interest rates.
Going bankrupt is often a matter of bad luck rather than anything else - or being scammed by someone else. Your little business would have done fine if not for a new invention that made it obsolete; you took on a business partner who turned out to be a thief; you did a lot of work for someone who didn't pay you...

Puzzledandpissedoff · 12/01/2018 14:55

It would depend on the circumstances, but as a friend I'd try to avoid judging unless they'd very clearly been feckless

As an interviewer - and I'm a retired recruitment company owner - I'm afraid I'd probably give them a swerve if the job involved the slightest risk. However unfair it seems, there are usually plenty of candidates who aren't bankrupt to choose from

IHopeYouStepOnALegoPiece · 12/01/2018 14:56

No I wouldn’t judge and I can’t inagine why someone would.

My close friend was declared bankrupt 7 years ago. To the world it looks like she made some ill thought out choices and got herself in that mess. She didn’t, what happened was a serious of crap events and life...life happened and she ended up there. I would hate the thought of her being judged by some fools who know nothing about the situation.

Indaro · 12/01/2018 14:57

As a friend...no, unless you were one of those serial company start up people that just kept folding and starting new businesses leaving financial ruin for others in their wake.

As an interviewer. Yes in an FCA or FFCS registered business. It's a basic requirement in those roles to pass a credit check and to have to declare bankruptcy. It can limit your field of employment but certainly doesn't make you unemployable.

Best of luck for the future Flowers

PeacefulBlessing · 12/01/2018 14:57

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.

This completely.

WeirdCatLady · 12/01/2018 14:58

If this happened to a friend, I’d want to know how I could support them.

If this was someone applying for a job I’m afraid it would colour my view and they probably wouldn’t be invited for an interview in the current market.

theunsure · 12/01/2018 14:59

DH went bankrupt, failed business. Not his fault, the market changed and he put his own money in to prop it up. It didn't work, he lost everything. It was, and still is, hard.
(Note: My finances unaffected as we had nothing joint)

I don't judge the bankruptcy in itself. I might judge if it were due to other reasons.

KungFuEric · 12/01/2018 14:59

People will judge though because they've been on the receiving end of loss through no fault of their own.

Wouldn't you judge your employer if they didn't pay your wages?

Wouldn't you judge a retailer who took your money but didn't provide you with goods?

Op, have you already begun the bankcruptcy process? Are there any assets within the business that can be sold to pay your creditors?

LyraPotter · 12/01/2018 14:59

As a friend I wouldn't. As an employer I would definitely want more details but unless the job involved fiscal or fiduciary duties I wouldn't see it as an absolute hard no - would depend on the circumstances.

MrsFredDibnah · 12/01/2018 15:02

Personally - no I would not judge.
For a job - depends on the job. You may not want to apply to be anybody's accountant. But in non-finance related jobs , I would not have a problem.

BarbaraofSevillle · 12/01/2018 15:03

Have you taken professional advice on what is open to you? Whether or not bankruptcy is appropriate depends on many factors such as home ownership, debt size, income, other assets, whether it would stop you from getting work, etc.

And there are other solutions such as a debt relief order, debt management plan or individual voluntary arrangement.

Contact Step Change, CAB or post on the debt free wannabe section of moneysavingexpert before jumping into anything rash.

And to answer your 'How would you/would you judge someone who had applied for bankruptcy', it really is impossible to say unless you know the circumstances.

Bankruptcy is a legal tool to free people from debt they have no prospect of repaying within a reasonable period. Sometimes a person goes bankrupt due to circumstances outside their control, like illness, redundancy or if a customer has failed to pay for goods or services. I wouldn't judge that.

But if someone had got into loads of debt due to living the high life on credit that they couldn't afford to repay, well yes I would judge that person.

weepingangel12 · 12/01/2018 15:04

I still don't understand how any employer would know. There are only a few jobs that you would have to declare it, and almost none where you would have to after discharge.
So all those saying they would judge as an employer, you wouldn't actually know, would you?

IsaSchmisa · 12/01/2018 15:05

I wouldn't judge but it might make me want to limit my associations with that person, depending on context. Fine to still be a friend since there'd be no financial implications there. Less so for a partner, or someone to run a finance department in my company.

rocketgirl22 · 12/01/2018 15:06

I most definitely wouldn't judge anyone on a bankruptcy. It can happen, and does happen.

As long as there was no dishonesty involved I certainly wouldn't be judgemental and would offer my support to a friend or family member in this position immediately.

As an interviewer I would encourage the interviewee not to mention it, if it really has nothing to do with the job or making that person more or less employable.

Megs4x3 · 12/01/2018 15:06

It all depends. People can end up having to declare bankrupt through no fault of their own. As an interviewer I'd want to know about the circumstances IF financial ability was part of the job. Otherwise it's a personal matter. As a friend, it only matters if it affects the friendship in some way. Of the people I know who are in that situation it's not affected our relationship at all.

rocketgirl22 · 12/01/2018 15:07

No need to talk about it an interview unless it was criminal or dishonest.

BarbaraofSevillle · 12/01/2018 15:07

As well as jobs that are not open to people who have been bankrupt, some jobs require a credit check, such as some financial jobs and also those in the police, prison service or miliatary I think where employees are expected to keep their finances in good order, otherwise it is claimed that they are vulnerable to bribery and corruption, which I think is unfair.

I have been close to bankruptcy in the past and would never have done anything illegal financially, and many other people would be the same.

ExConstance · 12/01/2018 15:10

I was made bankrupt by the VAT people after my business partner spent all our money. I had no personal debt at all, just the money the business owed. People tend not to judge business failures. My bank were very sympathetic and allowed my account to continue. The receivers were very kind to me too. I paid £300 a month off for 3 years and then was discharged. I was very upset about it at the time, but it gave me a fresh start without worrying about money all the time. I don't think there is any stigma provided there is no obvious fecklessness.