In Pick v Sumpter and another, the first defendant's trustee in bankruptcy applied for an order for possession of the defendants' matrimonial home. At the hearing in May 2006, the evidence showed that the sum outstanding as at November 2005 was £25,571 but did not take into account legal costs. That sum was an estimate and did not take into account statutory interest on the bankrupt's debts beyond the date of the hearing, solicitor's costs of the possession hearing or any increase or decrease in the trustee's remuneration.

The court will not review a bankruptcy order where there has been no material change and evidence subsequently adduced could have been available at the original hearing.

Re Johnson Machine and Tool Co 6

The company was the subject of a “pre-pack” administration, whereby it was placed into administration and its assets immediately transferred to a new company controlled by the directors and owners of the existing company.

Why has the Financial Support Direction (FSD) been issued?

Justice has to be seen to be done. Without clear reasons from the court as to the decision it reached, a party is entitled to have reheard issues it raised on an earlier application but which there is no evidence the court considered.

The UK Government has announced a consultation on proposals to strengthen the administration regime for insurers, in particular to improve the protection and payment of benefits for persons insured with companies facing financial difficulties and addressing gaps in the administration regime for insurers as compared with the liquidation regime. The proposals include:

1. applying to administration the existing rules for valuing insurance contracts in liquidation; and

2. revising the objectives of administration in insurance company cases by:

Pre-packs continue to occupy centre stage, and administrators might be forgiven for feeling somewhat under the spotlight.

On 31 March 2010, the UK Insolvency Service released a new consultation paper entitled "improving the transparency of, and confidence in, pre-packaged sales in administrations.

FMLC has responded on aspects of Treasury’s consultations on resolution of investment banks. The paper’s main recommendations include:

In the present fi nancial climate, customers are increasingly asking for business critical software or other assets to be transferred to the customer should the supplier become insolvent, for the legitimate reason that the customer needs security of supply. Two recent Court of Appeal cases remind us that customers who outsource to and contract with potentially vulnerable service providers need to take account of the “anti-deprivation principle” when doing this.