The ‘new normal’ for Statutory Demands and Winding Up Petitions under the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020
On 26 June 2020 the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 finally entered force. Now it is in its final form, Simon Newman and Christopher Pask of 1 Chancery Lane’s Property, Chancery & Commercial team will be providing their views on its provisions and their impact over a series of updates.
When will a judge adjourn a hearing when faced with an application on the basis that a party is suffering from COVID-19?
This was a question recently encountered by Simon Newman on an application under s.366 of the Insolvency Act 1986 requiring the Respondents to deliver up documents in their possession to a Trustee in Bankruptcy.
There has been much speculation, but little certainty, as to whether the government intended to extend the provisions of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (the 2020 Act).
Today (24th September) the Government has laid before parliament regulations designed to extend the protection offered to struggling businesses by the 2020 Act, beyond the original 30 September deadline.
We at 1CL admire and encourage commitment to a cause, but even we blanched this week when we read of the determination of a 20 year old Slovenian woman, Julija Adlesic, who cut off her own hand with a circular saw in order to claim a €1,000,000 insurance payout. We can only imagine how irritated she must have been when police retrieved the hand and doctors were able to reattach it. All too predictably, the story ended in tears, when she was sentenced to a two year custodial sentence for attempted insurance fraud.
Welcome to this bulletin from 1 Chancery Lane's Property, Chancery and Commercial Law team.
In this edition:
If you have a pending Winding Up Petition at this time, or were contemplating issuing one, this note looks at how the courts are dealing with Petitions in light of the recent government guidance to the public and practice directions for the legal professions.
Those who are familiar with the general winding up list will recognise that a weekly court with multiple barristers, solicitors, company directors, court staff and an Insolvency and Companies Court Judge – often totalling in excess of 50 people is clearly not consistent with current social distancing guidelines.
What happens where a personal injury claimant is made bankrupt part way through the case, or where a bankrupt wishes to bring a claim for personal injury?
Last month the Chancery Division of the High Court in Manchester considered a challenge to the continuing ap-pointment of LPA receivers in the case of (1) Jumani (2)Tariq v (1) Mortgage Express (2) Walker Singleton ([2013] EWHC 1571 (Ch)).
1,300 solicitors firms are facing the prospect of having to find alternative insurance following the decision by the Latvian Financial and Capital Markets Commission to withdraw the operating licences for insurer Balva. According the press release on the FCMC's website, Balva must now launch a winding-up process by appointing a liquidator but all its insurance policies are still effective.