An unprecedented number of consumer problems has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, not least with regard to refunds of prepayments and the ability of consumers to keep up their monthly payments under loan and rental agreements. Based on a notion of societal force majeure sketched in this...

The paper first considers the conditions which debtors must satisfy in order to obtain debt relief via the Debt Relief Order (DRO) and/bankruptcy procedures under English law. The paper considers that limitations on access to the DRO procedure based on debtor debt, asset and income levels are...

Many over-indebted individuals have no surplus income and few assets. They constitute the “No Income: No Asset” or “Low Income: Low Asset Debtors” who may be unable to pay for access to bankruptcy in jurisdictions which require individuals to pay for access. The World Bank has identified...

The economic crisis has fueled the debate on regulated state insolvencies. And while debt relief is being considered for nations, in some European countries consumers live their whole lives in debt as there is no consumer bankruptcy process which provides for an exemption from residual debt....

The consumer lending “revolution” - with its promise of the democratisation of credit - has been followed by the credit crunch. The credit crunch has stimulated both immediate regulatory initiatives and more fundamental reflection on consumer credit regulation. As the Turner review in the UK...

This article discusses comparative consumer bankruptcy in the context of the international spread of consumer credit capitalism and its accompanying social cost, overindebtedness. The article outlines the contours of regulation of credit markets and overindebtedness within Europe, the influence...

This article is divided into two parts. The first part reflects on the dominant functionalist approach to comparative consumer bankruptcy and suggests that this might be supplemented by a political economy analysis that addresses the role of national and international interest groups, including...

This paper uses an interest group analysis to explain recent developments in consumer bankruptcy reform in Canada. Adopting Eric Posner's analysis from the US, I draw attention to the role of groups other than creditors and debtors in influencing consumer bankruptcy reform, in particular, the...