Winding up petition struck out as an abuse of process where the court was not satisfied that the petitioner was a creditor.

Can a company file a notice of intention to appoint an administrator (NOI) if administration is just one of a number of potential options being explored for rescuing the company?

Are funds subject to an IVA if they are received by a debtor after a certificate of completion has been issued by the supervisor?

Should an administrator’s appointment be terminated where the motives of the appointor are improper but the statutory purpose of the administration can still be properly achieved?

The insolvency service has published the latest figures for complaints against insolvency practitioners made to the Complaints Gateway during 2016. The statistics indicate that the Gateway has received a reasonably steady level of complaints since it was established in 2013 but promisingly for practitioners the Gateway does appear to be weeding out more complaints with the Gateway having rejected 29% of complaints in 2016, compared to 18% in the Gateway's first year.

The Stats

An update on recent changes

1 October 2015 – A day of changes to insolvency law

The start of October 2015 brought about important changes in insolvency law, affecting both creditors and debtors alike. The most notable changes are detailed below.

Harmonising office holder claims in administration  and  liquidation

In June 2013 the Complaints Gateway was established to provide a single entry point for regulatory complaints against insolvency practitioners.  The Insolvency Service has published an analysis of the complaints received by the Complaints Gateway in its first 12 months; the headline being an increase in complaints being made against insolvency practitioners from 748 to 941 complaints.

Pre-packs involve the pre-determined sale of a business before it enters administration, allowing a sale within days of an administrator's appointment. Examples of pre-packs include Dreams, JJB Sports and stockbroker Seymour Pierce. Pre-packs are a useful tool for the insolvency profession allowing businesses to be sold before being unduly damaged by the insolvency process, often saving jobs that might otherwise be lost.

In its decision on the Game Station¹ appeal, the Court of Appeal has overturned the cases of Goldacre²  and  Luminar³ holding that office holders of insolvent companies must pay rent of property occupied for the  benefit of creditors on a “pay as you go” basis irrespective of when rent falls due under the lease. 

The facts

The UK’s Insolvency Act 1986 sets out in s.123 various tests to determine whether a company should be deemed unable to pay its debts. The relevance of these tests to distressed companies is obvious: deciding as they do when it is appropriate to seek an administration order or present a winding up petition. They also help determine directors’ duties, antecedent transactions and issues such as wrongful and fraudulent trading.