Winding Up Petition

WINDING UP PETITION

The second stage of our insolvency law process for partnerships and limited companies involves us issuing a winding up petition.

WHAT IS A WINDING UP PETITION?

A winding up petition is a formal, written document that is filed at court in order to petition for a partnership or a limited company to be wound up and placed into compulsory liquidation.

HOW IS A WINDING UP PETITION DIFFERENT TO A BANKRUPTCY PETITION?

A winding up petition is different to a bankruptcy petition in that it relates to a partnership or a limited company that is insolvent, as opposed to an individual or a sole trader.

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A WINDING UP PETITION?

A winding up petition must be in a prescribed form.  Pursuant to Rule 7.5(1) of The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, the petition must contain:

1. The name of the court (and hearing centre if applicable).
2. The name and address of the petitioning creditor.
3. Identification details for the company subject to the petition.
4. The company’s registered office (if any).
5. The date the company was incorporated and the enactment under which it was incorporated.
6. The total number of issued shares of the company and the manner in which they are divided up.
7. The aggregate nominal value of those shares.
8. The amount of capital paid up or credited as paid up.
9. A statement of the nature of the company’s business if known.
10. The grounds on which the winding up order is sought.
11. Where the ground for the winding up order is Section 122(1)(a), a statement that the company has by special resolution resolved that the company be wound up by the court and the date of such resolution.
12. Where the ground for the winding up order is Section 122(1)(f) or Section 221(5)(b) and a statutory demand has been served on the company, a statement that such demand has been served and the date of service and that the company is insolvent and unable to pay its debts.
13. A statement whether the company is an Article 1.2 undertaking.
14. A statement whether the proceedings will be main, secondary or territorial or non-EC proceedings and that the reasons for so stating are given in a witness statement.
15. A statement that in the circumstances it is just and equitable that the company should be wound up.
16. A statement that the petitioning creditor applies for an order that the company may be wound up by the court under the Insolvency Act 1986 or that such other order may be made as the court thinks just.
17. The name and address of any person on whom the petitioning creditor intends to serve the petition.
18. The contact details of the petitioning creditor’s solicitor (if any).

Pursuant to Rule 7.5(2), the petition must also contain a blank box for the court to complete with the details of the venue for hearing the petition.

A copy of the relevant form can be found at www.gov.uk/wind-up-a-company-that-owes-you-money.

Where appropriate, we will also add statutory late payment compensation to the debt you are owed, pursuant to the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2002, as amended by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013.

HOW DO YOU SERVE A WINDING UP PETITION?

A winding up petition must be served on a debtor.  In practice, this means that is must be delivered by a process server, who is a professional engaged in the business of bringing legal documents to the attention of a litigant.  Rule 7.9(2) of The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 states “Where the petitioner is not the company the petitioner must serve a sealed copy of the petition on the company in accordance with Schedule 4”.

DO I NEED A SOLICITOR TO PRESENT A WINDING UP PETITION?

No.  However, a solicitor will be able to advise you if a winding up petition is appropriate, draft it on your behalf and arrange for it to be served on the partnership or limited company that owes you money.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PRESENT A WINDING UP PETITION?

For a fixed fee of £1,500.00 plus VAT, we will issue a winding up petition against the partnership or limited company that owes you money.  You will also have to pay a number of disbursements including a court fee of £280.00, the Official Receiver’s deposit of £2,600.00, a process server fee of £100.00 plus VAT and an advocate fee of £500.00 plus VAT.

HOW DO I INSTRUCT YOU TO PRESENT A WINDING UP PETITION?

We do not require you to complete a form to instruct us to present a winding up petition.  We will gather together all of the information we need at the pre-winding up letter stage of the insolvency process.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER I INSTRUCT YOU TO PRESENT A WINDING UP PETITION?

We will send you a copy of the winding up petition and notify you of the time and date it has been listed for hearing.  We will ensure that all formalities are complied with in the build up to the hearing and if your debtor contacts us, we will let you know immediately if:

1. They admit the debt and have sent us payment.
2. They admit the debt and have not sent us payment.
3. They admit part of the debt and have sent us payment.
4. They admit part of the debt and have not sent us payment.
5. They admit the statutory late payment compensation and have sent us payment.
6. They admit the statutory late payment compensation and have not sent us payment.
7. They have requested copy documents.
8. They dispute the debt and have filed a witness statement in opposition to the petition.
9. They dispute the debt but have not filed a witness statement in opposition to the petition.
10. They dispute the statutory late payment compensation.

If the partnership or limited company that owes you money fails to respond to our winding up petition, we will ask the court to make a winding up order.

Please note: to access our services, you will need to open an account.  You can do this by completing the form on the open an account page of our website.  On receipt of your application, we will set you up as a debt recovery client and then contact you to explain what will happen next.  Alternatively, for general enquiries, please contact us.  If you would like to speak to one of our advisors, please call: 0151 650 6908.  We very much look forward to working with you.