Winding up Petition

Winding Up Petitions are for the recovery of debts from Limited Companies.

A company may be wound up if it is unable to pay its debts as they fall due which includes a creditor to whom the company owes more than £750.00. It is inappropriate to issue Winding Up proceedings against a company where the debt is genuinely disputed.

Before issuing a Winding Up Petition against a debtor, it is necessary to prove to the Court that a demand for payment has been made. We will advise you as to whether a formal Statutory Demand is necessary or whether a Letter Before Action would suffice before issuing the petition.

Once the petition has been served we will then arrange for the advertisement of the Petition in the London Gazette. More often than not, the threat of advertising forces the company to pay the debt, because if the petition is advertised at that point the company's bank will freeze its accounts.

We will then attend at Court for the Hearing of the Petition (if required).

Bankruptcy Petition

Bankruptcy Petitions are for the recovery of debts from individuals. An individual may be made bankrupt if he/she is unable to pay their debts as they fall due and if they owe a creditor more than £5000.00.

Before issuing a Bankruptcy Petition, it may be necessary to issue a Statutory Demand must be served on the debtor requiring the debtor to pay the sum due. We can advise you as to whether a Statutory Demand will be necessary.

A Statutory Demand should ot be sent to a debtor where there is genuinely contest debt.  Otherwise the debtor can make an application to the Court to set aside the Statutory Demand.  If the debtor's application is successful then the creditor would be liable to pay the debtor's costs in making the application to set aside the Statutory Demand.

If no payment is made within three weeks from service of the Statutory Demand, a Bankruptcy Petition can be issued.

We will then deal with the final Hearing of the Bankruptcy Petition if no payment has been made.

If you require further advice in connection with any aspect of Debt Recovery, please contact Asa Cocker on 0161 785 3500 in the Debt Recovery team.