How Could Kerry Katona Have Dodged Bankruptcy?
Kerry Katona has been perpetually dogged by debt since being declared bankrupt in 2008. This was because she didn’t pay her taxes and ran up a huge debt with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. She did try to tackle this debt, cutting it from £417,000 down to a far more modest £82,000. So, how could Kerry have dodged bankruptcy? Paying her tax would’ve been a good start. There are sure to be underlying cause, rather than the root of the issue though.
Kerry Katona left girl group Atomic Kitten in 2001 and pretty much fell of the Celeb radar. However, full blown celebrity status returned in 2004, thanks to a winning run on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here. Since then, Kerry has rarely left the tabloids. As a result, her earnings have remained relatively substantial. As the face of frozen food, Iceland reportedly paid her £750,000 a year and her column in OK! Magazine brought in a further £400,000. Then there are the incidentals; £250,000 for a fitness DVD, £100,000 for reality show My Fair Kerry and £1million for her autobiography, “Too Much Too Young.” Again, with such an income, how could Kerry have dodged bankruptcy? Well, passing up on the opportunity to purchase a £1.5m luxury home in Cheshire, a £115,000 Lamborghini, a £90,000 Range Rover and a £70,000 Porsche Cayenne GTS would probably have helped.
Not content with a squandered fortune, Kerry Katona now intends to lose further pounds at a fitness camp in the New Year. The fickle finger of fame has prompted this determination to lose weight in the wake of a decidedly unflattering picture. Although she had liposuction last year, Kerry now feels that the time is right to fight the flab, sometime after the Christmas. Putting her weight gain down to comfort eating as a result of her bankruptcy, Kerry has admitted to evenings spent gorging in front of the TV. By her own admission, bankruptcy has left her unable to afford electricity though, so food might not be keeping in the fridge anymore but how’s she powering that telly?
So, how could she have dodged bankruptcy? Well, there are various debt solutions out there that would’ve helped. For example, an IVA is an excellent alternative to bankruptcy. It will normally result in a significant proportion of your debt being written off and the remainder being repaid over a period of 60 months. Your assets are also secure, providing you maintain the repayment schedule. Bankruptcy can cost you your home and other assets in servicing your debt. Also, unlike bankruptcy, an IVA is not published in local papers and the London Gazette, not that this would be a particular attraction to Kerry. Likewise, IVAs don’t have as severe an effect on your career so may not maintain the media profile to which she has become accustomed. All in all, Kerry could’ve dodged bankruptcy with an IVA but it would have required an earlier approach to a specialist debt advisor who could’ve gone through her options. If only she’d spoken to Debtsolver. Then again, would a life without controversy and stigma be worth reading about in the tabloids?
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