RUNCORN, England — With more and more people going bankrupt every year in the UK, many individuals are choosing to petition for their bankruptcy by themselves, without any advice from personal insolvency experts. As a result, many common mistakes are made either before, or during the bankruptcy process. These errors can be very difficult to correct later and can lead to costly financial consequences down the road.

To assist and advise individuals going through bankruptcy, Myvesta UK, a not-for-profit financial crisis centre, has launched a new Bankruptcy Assistance Service. The service provides a strategic pooling of trusted resources and experts including leading insolvency practitioners and other bankruptcy experts to provide initial and ongoing advice and instruction including support from bankruptcy advisors for a period of one year.

Steve Rhode, chairman of Myvesta UK said: "When people have gotten to the point that they need to go bankrupt, they do not know where to turn and often try to declare themselves bankrupt without seeking any professional advice. At Myvesta, we are often contacted by individuals who have already gone through the bankruptcy process and are suffering from mistakes made during their bankruptcy. We saw a need to assist those individuals and created a support network they can call upon for expert guidance, assistance and answers to their bankruptcy questions."

According to Mr Rhode, some common problems when petitioning for one's own bankruptcy include:

• Not properly handling assets in bankruptcy, which can lead to the loss of those assets later.
• Coordination of negotiations with Official Receivers and Trustees in bankruptcy.
• Not properly preparing for or dealing with the income payment order in bankruptcy, thus creating financial hardship later.
• Paying more to petition for bankruptcy than is necessary.

For more information about Myvesta UK's Bankruptcy Assistance Service, visit Myvesta.org.uk online or call 0800 1116 885.