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You can apply to the court to close or ‘wind up’ a company if it cannot pay its debts. This is also known as compulsory liquidation.

To wind up a company you must:

• be owed £750 or more
• be able to prove that the company cannot pay you

You need to fill in forms and send them to the right court to apply to wind up a company.

Your application to the court is known as a ‘winding-up petition’. If you’re successful:

• the company assets are sold
• any legal disputes are settled
• the company collects money it’s owed
• funds are paid to you and any other creditors

There are also other ways to recover money that you’re owed. You can get a debt specialist (like a solicitor) to help you recover debt.

Fees

The fees are:

• £343 - court fees
• £2,600 - petition deposit (to manage the ‘winding-up’)

You might be able to get the fees back if the company can afford to repay them.

Scottish companies

There are on winding up a company in Scotland.

You must send the right form to the court before they can deal with your petition. You might want to get legal help to make sure you submit your petition correctly.

Forms

Fill in form Comp 1 and make 3 copies.

You’ll need to:

• make sure the company’s details are correct
• state if any European Community regulations apply (this applies if the company is registered in or does business in England and Wales)
• ask the court to restore the company (if it’s been dissolved) before winding up the company

You need to provide evidence the company owes you money, for example:

• a statutory demand - include the amount and date the demand was served
• a court judgment - include the amount awarded (and your costs and interest), the date of the judgment, the court name and case number

You’ll also need to fill in form Comp 2 confirming the details of your petition.

Where to send the petition

Where you send the petition depends on how much ‘paid-up share capital’ the company has - you can find this on the .

Paid-up share capital is £120,000 or more

. It’ll go to the High Court.

You pay the court fees online, but not the petition deposit. You’ll get an email after you apply, telling you how to pay the deposit.

Paid-up share capital is under £120,000

You’ll need to find the court nearest to the company’s registered office - the court must deal with bankruptcy.

if it’s one of these courts:

• Admiralty and Commercial Court
• Chancery Division
• Companies Court
• High Court (including Bankruptcy Court)
• London Mercantile Court
• Rolls Building

You pay the court fees online, but not the petition deposit. You’ll get an email after you apply, telling you how to pay the deposit.

If it was another court you’ll need to submit the petition by post. You can pay the fees by cash, postal order or a building society, bank or solicitor’s cheque made payable to ‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service’.

After you apply

You’ll get a copy of your petition from the court after you pay the petition deposit. You must:

• deliver (‘serve’) it to a company director or employee
• provide a certificate of service to the court confirming that the petition has been served on the company

You can get a ‘process server’ to help you - your solicitor can arrange this.

You can serve the petition by attaching it to the company’s front door or leaving it at the office if you cannot serve it in person.

The day after you serve the petition, send a copy to the relevant liquidator, administrative receiver, administrator or supervisor if the company is involved in:

• voluntary liquidation
• administrative receivership
• an administration order
• a voluntary arrangement

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

Announce the hearing

When you’re given a date for the hearing, you must formally announce when and where it will take place.

1. At least 7 working days before the hearing, place an advert in to say the petition has been served.

2. Send a copy of the advert and form Comp 3 to the court at least 5 working days before the hearing.

3. Give a list of everyone who will be attending to the court by 4:30pm on the day before the hearing.

The advert must state:

• that you’ve presented a petition to wind up the company
• your name and address
• your solicitor’s name and address (if you have one)
• the date you presented the petition
• the court where the hearing will take place
• that anyone wanting to come to the hearing must

After the hearing

If the petition is successful, the court will issue a winding-up order.

The court will put an official receiver in charge of the liquidation. They’ll start the process of turning the company’s assets into money that can be used to pay the company’s debts.

Other creditors can register to claim the money they’re owed.