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The new Insolvency rules to guide insolvency practice from April 2017

Modernised and consolidated insolvency rules have been laid in Parliament and will come into force on 6 April 2017.

The new insolvency rules replace the Insolvency Rules 1986 and their 28 subsequent amendments. They have been developed working with the insolvency profession and have been approved by the Insolvency Rules Committee.

The rules have been recast to reflect modern business practice and to make the insolvency process more efficient. Changes include:-

• enabling electronic communications with creditors
• removing the automatic requirement to hold physical creditors meetings, although creditors will be able to request meetings
• enabling creditors to opt out of further correspondence and for small dividends to be paid by the office holder without requiring a formal claim from creditors

Further details will be available in the Explanatory Memorandum, which is published alongside the Rules.

The new insolvency rules will apply in England and Wales. A parallel project to modernise the Scottish insolvency rules is currently underway with the Scottish Government, with work continuing on consequential amendments to other related legislation, including the Insolvent Partnerships Order. 

These new Insolvency rules will introduce new and amended insolvency forms and make many current forms obsolete. These new and amended insolvency forms will be made available in FormEvo for use from April 2017.

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