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How to issue a winding up petition - forms and fees to wind up a company to recover any money you're owed.

• Overview

  You can apply to the court to close or ‘wind up’ a company if it cannot…

• Apply

  You must send the right form to the court before they can deal with your…

• The court hearing

  If the court accepts your petition, they’ll arrange a date for a hearing.…

Late commercial payments - interest and debt recovery costs you can charge businesses for late payments

• When a payment becomes late

  You can claim interest and debt recovery costs if another business is late…

• Interest on late commercial payments

  The interest you can charge if another business is late paying for goods…

• Claim debt recovery costs on late payments

  You can also charge a business a fixed sum for the cost of recovering a…

Includes bankruptcy, insolvency and recovering debt

• Updated: 18 November 2016

How HMRC uses debt enforcement powers, debt collection agencies and what happens if you live abroad when you do not pay your tax bill.

• Updated: 12 September 2025

Use a mediation service, send a statutory demand, go to court or make someone bankrupt if a person or business owes you money

Even the best-run business can face unexpected challenges and solvency issues. It's important you recognise the signs and understand your duties as a director.

• Updated: 1 April 2022

If your employer is 'insolvent' this means it cannot pay its debts - your rights if this happens, claiming money owed to you, where to get advice

Key figures in scheme to undermine insolvency system banned as directors

• Updated: 22 October 2025

What happens if your company cannot pay its debts and is given a court judgment, statutory demand or winding-up order by your creditors

Find out about risks of excise duty evasion and other commercial risks if you're an excise warehousekeeper or registered consignor.

• Updated: 3 March 2025