Guidance on dealing with case administration matters for Insolvency Service staff
This guidance is for the use of Official Receivers in England and Wales and Insolvency Service staff. It is not exhaustive, and it may be appropriate in some circumstances for the Official Receiver to deviate from this guidance. The content is maintained but you should not necessarily rely on this to contain the most up-to-date guidance on a subject. If you find a mistake in the text please let us know Report An Error
References to section numbers and rule numbers refer to the Insolvency Act 1986 and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, unless stated otherwise.
This guidance was first published under the Insolvency Service’s Freedom of Information Publication Scheme in March 2021. It replaces the previous format of guidance published as the “Technical Manual”.
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Powers, duties and functions of the Official Receiver including situations where those powers are limited by law or by internal operational rules
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Actions to take in the initial stages of a company winding-up, including letters to be sent and enquiries to be undertaken
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Actions to take in the initial stages of a bankruptcy including letters to be sent and enquiries to be undertaken
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Publication of information relating to insolvencies, including advertisement in the London Gazette and local newspapers
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Information about the public register of bankruptcies, debt relief orders and individual voluntary arrangements
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Information on the disabilities and restrictions on undischarged bankrupts or individuals subject to bankruptcy restrictions order or who have given bankruptcy restriction undertaking. This is general guidance for Insolvency Service staff and may not be applied in all cases.
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Information on dealing with HM Land Registry
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Information on dealing with applications for appeal, stay or rescission of a bankruptcy order or winding-up order. Includes information on orders protecting persons at risk of violence.
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This is purely a bankruptcy procedure. Information on procedure and the official receiver's role in applications for annulment of the order.
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This section is not allocated a topic
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Information on carrying out inspections of trading and domestic premises and tracing inspections
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Information on the Taking Control of Goods Act and other remedies available to creditors.
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Dealing with an insolvent's goods that are subject to a retention of title clause, including verifying the validity of the clause
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Insuring an insolvent's property.
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This section is not allocated a topic
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Guidance on the official receivers' duty to deal with the books and records of insolvents.
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Interviewing bankrupts and directors, including taking statements to record information obtained
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Guidance on requiring and submission of statements of affairs and further accounts.
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Dealing with a failure to co-operate by company officers, partners and bankrupts.
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Calling and holding a public examination in court of a bankrupt or director under the insolvency legislation
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Guidance on who may be called before the court for a private examination and the procedures involved.
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Guidance on obtaining information from third parties and the disclosure of information (including Legal Professional Privilege).
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Guidance on dealing with the interaction between the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Insolvency Act 1986.
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Guidance on property which falls outside the bankruptcy estate and dealing with claims that property is excluded.
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General guidance on securing, protecting and realising insolvent estates
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Collection of monies owed to an insolvent, including the process for engaging contracted agents to undertake the recovery
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Dealing with an insolvent's motor vehicle, including matters to be taken into account before the vehicle is sold
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Dealing with an insolvent's freehold or leasehold property, including action to be taken to protect an interest in the property, steps to be taken where the property is the bankrupt's 'family home' and dealing with shared ownership properties
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Dealing with an insolvent's solely-owned property where the property has or had tenants
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Guidance on properties jointly owned by a bankrupt and another where the owners have entered into an assured shorthold tenancy.
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Guidance on dealing with transactions at undervalue and preferences
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Dealing with antecedent recoveries other than preferences and transactions at undervalue.
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Recovering sums due in respect of antecedent recoveries such as excessive pension contributions, misfeasance of directors, voidable dispositions and transactions defrauding creditors
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Dealing with assets
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Obtaining Income Payments Agreements (IPA) and Income Payments Orders (IPO) from bankrupts, including the matters to be taken into account when calculating the sum to be paid
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Dealing with after-acquired property where a bankrupt acquires property during the period of their bankruptcy
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Rights of action
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Information on the work of the PPI Team and recovering compensation where the insolvent has been a victim of financial mis-selling cases.
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Intellectual property is the legal right associated with creations of the mind, e.g. artworks, inventions etc
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This chapter is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every type of asset, instead it provides information relating to assets most likely to be encountered by the official receiver but that are not covered elsewhere in the guidance, together with information regarding how best to protect and realise these assets.
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This section is not allocated a topic
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Disclaiming property of the insolvency where that property is onerous, including the process to be followed for an effective disclaimer
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Details of the definition of a creditor and rights to participate in insolvency proceedings
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This chapter gives advice to Official Receivers on carrying out a decision-making process under the insolvency legislation, in particular the process to effect the appointment of an insolvency practitioner as liquidator or trustee in place of the Official Receiver
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Guidance on appointing an insolvency practitioner and handing over the estate. Including the use of the official receivers' rotas and vacancies in office.
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This section is not allocated a topic
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Discharge from bankruptcy, including suspending a bankrupt's period of discharge in cases of non-cooperation
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How the accounting systems in relation to insolvent estates operate and the legislative basis for the accounting for fees and expenses relating to the work of the official receiver.
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Distribution by means of a dividend or division of property
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Obtaining release as trustee or liquidator
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The Official Receiver's role in voluntary arrangements
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This chapter provides guidance on partnerships. It covers both general partnerships and limited partnerships but not limited liability partnerships (LLPs), which are covered in chapter 53.
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Dealing with Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP), including where an LLP is subject to a winding-up order
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This section is not allocated a topic
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This guidance deals with the circumstances in which the Registrar of Companies may dissolve a company
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Guidance on second or subsequent bankruptcies.
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Dealing with the affairs of a debtor who dies during the bankruptcy process or the estate of a deceased insolvent
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This chapter provides advice on dealing with pensions
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Employment law and insolvency
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This section is not allocated a topic
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Dealing with a Debt Relief Order (DRO) including application process
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The Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (the Act) modernises and simplifies the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 and the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1930