Check whether someone is bankrupt in the UK.
Every bankruptcy order made in England and Wales is advertised in The Gazette. Type a name or postcode and see whether one has been published — including orders old enough to have dropped off the official register.
- Bankruptcy orders
- England & Wales
- Historic notices
- Built on official data
Free, no card, no account. One name or up to 150 per run — checked against 317,411 official Gazette notices, current to 8 October 2026.
Check a name for bankruptcy
Type one name, company number or postcode — or paste up to 150, one per line. Real results from The Gazette.
Free, no card, no account — one name or up to 150 per run.
What we found
Want the full notice — dates, court, case number, practitioner contacts, CSV export? Create a free account, no card required.
Create free accountWhat a Gazette bankruptcy search shows — and what it cannot
Bankruptcy orders
When a court makes a bankruptcy order the official receiver advertises it in The Gazette. The notice carries the debtor’s name, address, the court, the case number and the date of the order. That is what this search finds.
Orders no longer on the official register
The Individual Insolvency Register removes a bankruptcy three months after discharge, usually around 15 months after the order. The Gazette record is permanent, so a Gazette search is the only free way to see an order from several years ago.
Not IVAs or Debt Relief Orders
Individual Voluntary Arrangements and Debt Relief Orders are not published in The Gazette. If that is what you are checking for, use the Individual Insolvency Register on gov.uk while it is still live there.
Not Scotland or Northern Ireland
Scottish sequestrations are recorded by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and Northern Irish bankruptcies by the Insolvency Service NI. This search covers notices published in The Gazette for England and Wales.
Bankruptcy search questions
Is a UK bankruptcy search free?
Yes. Searching here is free and needs no account. You only pay if you want to unlock the full notice text, and only when a search actually finds a match.
How do I check if someone is bankrupt?
Type their full name into the box above, with a postcode if you have one to narrow common names, and search. A match shows the notice type, court and date. No match means no bankruptcy order under that name has been advertised in The Gazette.
How is this different from the Individual Insolvency Register?
The register is the Insolvency Service’s live list and includes IVAs and DROs, but it deletes bankruptcies three months after discharge. The Gazette is the permanent public record of the orders themselves, so it shows historic bankruptcies the register no longer does. Use both if you need a complete picture.
Can I check a whole list of names at once?
Yes. Paste up to 150 names, one per line, into the same box. Collections and legal teams screening larger books use a free account for unlimited runs and CSV export.
Read before you search
How to check if someone is bankrupt in the UK
The three sources, what each one shows, and the gap between them.
Bankruptcy orders in The Gazette: what you can and cannot see
What a notice contains, what it leaves out, and how to use it lawfully.
Checking more than a handful of names?
Collections, legal and compliance teams screen whole debtor books in one run — with CSV export, deadlines and practitioner contacts.