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The Government has made its ninth amendment to insolvency fees under the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2015 (SI 2015/1819). The costs of presenting a bankruptcy or winding-up petition will increase for petitions presented on or after 16 November 2015 as follows

Petition Creditors’ bankruptcy petition Compulsory winding up
Current deposit £750 £1,250
Deposit from 16 November 2015 £825 £1,350
Current remaining OR fees £1,100 £1,150
Remaining OR fees from 16 November 2015 £1,165 £1,170

The costs for a debtor’s own bankruptcy petition have not changed.

There is also an increase to the Secretary of State administration fee levied on the realisations paid into the insolvency services account. The calculation of this levy has been adjusted, apart from the overall cap of £80,000 which remains the same.

Amount of asset realisations Current levy Levy from 16 November 2015
First £2,000 (£2,500 for liquidations) 0% No change
Next £1,700 100% 75%
Next £1,500 75% 50%
Next £396,000 15% No change
Remainder up to a maximum levy of £80,000 1% No change

According to the Government, the main objective is to increase fees in order to eliminate deficits and cover costs. The intended effect is a shift from taxpayers subsidising the operational deficit to increasing income which will aid full cost (but no more) recovery.

The other objective is to reduce the reliance on cross subsidisation of cases and arrange for income from individual cases to more closely match costs. Here the intended effect is to create a fairer and more transparent funding structure for Official Receiver cases.

The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.

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