Creditor bankruptcy and liquidation petition deposits to rise  

The Insolvency Service has introduced changes to the deposits paid to initiate creditor bankruptcies and compulsory liquidations.

The petition deposit, the amount that needs to be paid up-front to seek an order, will be increasing in all cases where a petition is filed at court on or after 1 November 2022. 

Creditors’ bankruptcy petition deposit will rise from to £990 to £1,500, and Company liquidation petition deposit will rise from £1,600 to £2,600.

There will be no change to the adjudicator petition deposit where the individual applies for their own bankruptcy.

The deposit contributes to the official receiver’s administration costs, with the remainder of the costs recovered through fees charged against assets realised during the bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings.

If there are sufficient assets to recover all the fees and costs, then the deposit is returned to the party who initiated the insolvency.

The service said the change comes as fees have not changed since April 2016 and insolvency case numbers have fallen to a “historically low level” with the majority of the remaining cases having insufficient asset values to recover the administration costs.

The deposit increase will enable the Insolvency Service to continue to “administer and investigate insolvencies effectively, maximising outcomes for creditors whilst mitigating the risk of cost recovery being passed on to the taxpayer”.

There will be no change to the adjudicator petition deposit where the individual applies for their own bankruptcy.