Where a Limited Company owes you money, you can petition the Court for an Order that the Company that owes money (‘the Debtor Company’) is wound up.
This is quite a serious step as it effectively stops the Debtor Company from operating completely.
It is a requirement of the process that the Winding Up Petition be served upon the Company at the Registered Office or upon a Director of the Debtor Company in good time for the hearing and in such a way as to not interfere with the Creditors’ obligation to advertise the Petition.
Often, service of a Winding Up Petition is preceded by service of a Statutory Demand upon the Company.
It is enough to present a Winding Up Petition if you have a judgment against the Debtor Company that hasn’t been paid or have demanded the debt in writing and it has not been contested.
We help Creditors by serving Companies with Winding Up Petitions.
Serving a Company with a Winding Up Petition
Serving a Winding Up Petition needs to be done correctly. For service to be valid, it should be undertaken at the Registered Office of the Company. This is the address for service that is provided to Companies House and the Company is under a legal duty to keep up to date. You can find the Registered Office of a Company by viewing the register at Companies House.
It is often the case, for smaller companies, that the Registered Office is not the actual trading centre of the business. Sometimes it turns out to be the trading address of the Company accountants. Provided the rules are complied with, it shouldn’t matter if the business actually trades from there or not.
Serving the Company with a Winding Up Petition at another address, such as a satellite office or depot, may not be valid. It’s far simpler to attempt service at the Registered Office, wherever that may be.
What form do you need to use?
You’ll need to use Form COMP1. When completing the form, you’ll need to provide evidence that the Debtor Company owes you money.
Where a Statutory Demand has already been served upon the Debtor Company and has not been complied with, the Certificate of Service of Statutory Demand will contain all of the details you need.
In cases where a Statutory Demand hasn’t been served, details of any outstanding Judgment or the request for payment will be required.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 prohibits the presentation of a Winding Up petition based on an unsatisfied Statutory Demand served between 1 March 2020 and 30 September 2021.
As at 1 October 2021 Creditors are now at liberty to present winding up petitions on the basis that a Debtor Company has failed to comply with a Statutory Demand. It is not as straightforward as it used to be. In order for a Creditor to file a Winding Up Petition they will need to satisfy 4 criteria.
- The debt is owed, has fallen due and does not relate to amounts due under a business tenancy; and
- The Creditor has delivered a written notice to the Company covering the standard content of a Statutory Demand (the standard SD1 should be suitable); and
- 21 days have passed since this written notice was delivered; and
- The debt owed to the Credit is greater than £10,000
The most important changes, relate to the amount of the debt and the fact that the debt can’t relate to a business tenancy. As to what happens after 31 March 2022, remains to be seen.
There are no changes to the rules relating to serving a Winding Up Petition.
What we do to help Creditors
We’re regularly instructed to assist Creditors in their collection activity by effecting service of Winding Up Petitions on Companies all over the UK.
If you want us to assist you in serving a Winding Up Petition, click on the ‘Instruct Us’ button. In most cases, we can effect service on the same day as we receive the instruction.
Serve the Petition
We will serve the Company with the Winding Up Petition
If required, we’ll confirm whether the Company is still trading.
Means Report
We’ll confirm any Debtor Company assets on site during our attendance.
We’ll prepare a brief means report on every instruction.
This information may be useful in deciding future action.
Proof of Service
We’ll provide a court-ready Certificate of Service.
This will be emailed to you, with hardcopies sent in the post.
You can then get on with advertising the Petition.
We are Lincs Process Servers
We serve Winding Up Petitions all over the UK for a fixed fee. We assist our creditor clients and their professional advisors with their debt collection by providing field services aimed at driving recoveries, delivering intelligence and maintaining the customer-supplier relationship.
If you, or one of your clients, would benefit from this approach, get in touch.