Frequently asked questions

If you’ve received a winding up petition, the options available to you to stop or appeal the petition will depend on how quickly you take action after receiving the petition.  You can take a number of steps outside of the courts to try and stop or adjourn the petition, or once the courts have issued a winding up order, you can apply to the courts to have the winding up order cancelled.

Appealing a Winding Up Order

We will focus on the court process for the ‘Order’ in this article, but you can read more about your options for adjourning or stopping a winding up petition here. There are two situations in which you can cancel out a winding up order:

• If your company is able to pay its debts and can prove solvency; or
• Where you couldn’t attend the original court hearing for the winding up petition.

In both situations, you must make the application to cancel the winding up order within 5 working days of receiving the order otherwise, the application will be rejected. The first step for applying to cancel a winding up order is to fill in Form 7.1A. Download form 7.1A here.  You must write a witness statement giving details of the company’s financial position and take this, along with form 7.1A and the court fee to the court that issued the winding up order.

What are the Fees to Apply to Cancel a Winding Up Order?

If the winding up order was issued by a district registry or the Companies Court, the fee will be £155.  If it was issued by a county court, it will vary from court to court and you will need to check with the court.

What Happens Next?

Once you’ve filed your application, you will receive a date for a court hearing.  This is generally quite shortly after the application date – so within one or two weeks. You must serve a copy of the application to cancel the winding up order to the creditor who originally brought the winding up petition against the company and the official receiver appointed by the courts when the winding up order was issued. There are specific rules relating to service of documents, so you need to ensure that the copies of the application are served properly.  You can either give the copies to the relevant parties, get a process server to serve the documents or, send them by registered post or post them through the letterbox of their known addresses.

The Court Hearing

You will need to present your case to the registrar or district judge, depending on where the hearing is being held.  As this will be your final chance to stop the company from being wound up, you should ensure that you prepare for the hearing and be able to make a case for why the company should not be wound up (generally this will rely on you being able to prove that the company can pay its debts). The court will either make a decision whether to rescind (cancel) the winding up order or not at the end of the hearing or set a date for a further hearing if they think that they need more evidence to make the decision. If the court decides not to rescind the winding up order, and you disagree with the decision, you may be able to appeal to the High Court.

Need Compulsory Liquidation Advice?

If you’ve received a winding up order, you may be able to have it cancelled. We’re happy to help guide you through this difficult process.