FOI release

FOI 95 - Information about the role of the OR in checking names on petitions

Updated 2 February 2022

Our ref: FOI21/22-095

Date: 11 November 2021

Dear

1. Re: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request

Thank you for your email of 03 November in which you requested information from the Insolvency Service.

Your request has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Where information is held this has been provided in response to your questions below:

• Can you please provide all information you hold relating to the requirement that only legal entities not trading names of solicitors ( both acting as either a company or within a partnership) can be used when lodging bankruptcy petitions with the court.

The Insolvency service does not hold this information. This Information might be available in the Insolvency Act 1986, the Insolvency Rules 2016 and the Civil Procedure Rules or you could seek legal advice.

• Are trading names /business names not the correct legal entity name, such as a limited company or a partner of a partnership signing as a partner, be accepted by the Insolvency Service or would inaccurate applications be automatically rejected after spotting the error and after receiving a bankruptcy order from the court.

When checking the bankruptcy order the Official Receiver would only check for errors relating to the wording of the bankruptcy order, for example where it does not match the petition such as an incorrect spelling of bankrupt’s name. In such cases the official receiver would seek to have the wording amended. The Official Receiver would generally not seek to challenge the validity of a bankruptcy order made by the court.

• Are creditor’s pending bankruptcy petitions/statutory demands also checked by the OR, for errors, prior to an order or after an order is made.

Pending petitions/statutory demands are not checked by the Official Receiver for errors.

• What checks and safeguards are  carried out by your staff and put in place to ensure compliance with the law and to ensure that bankruptcy petitions are not being submitted by solicitors who use a business/trade name, which is not a legal entity.

This is a matter for the court, and the Official Receiver is not involved. As such, no safeguards or checks are carried out by staff who work for the Insolvency Service or the Official Receiver.

1.1 Complaints

If you are not satisfied with the response we have provided you and would like us to reconsider our decision by way of an internal review (IR), please contact our Information Rights team at foi@insolvency.gov.uk or by post at:

Information Rights Team
The Insolvency Service
3rd Floor
Cannon House
18 Priory Queensway
Birmingham
B4 6FD
United Kingdom

You also have the right to contact the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you wish for them to investigate any complaint you may have regarding our handling of your request. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect an IR to have been completed in the first instance.

Yours sincerely,

Information Rights Team

The Insolvency Service

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Official receivers and the Adjudicator are Data Controllers in respect of personal data processed by the Insolvency Service. For the details about how personal data is processed by the agency, please see the full Insolvency Service Personal Information Charter here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/insolvency-service/about/personal-information-charter