A guide, not advice. This explains how things generally work. A licensed insolvency practitioner will tell you what applies to your company or to you.
Winding up petitions - how to respond and what happens next
A winding up petition is a creditor's application to have your company compulsorily liquidated - the most serious enforcement step a creditor can take, and one that runs on a timetable of weeks, not months.
The timeline you're on
Petition issued and served; advertised in The Gazette around seven business days later - the point at which banks typically freeze the company's accounts; hearing within roughly six to ten weeks; and if the order is made, the Official Receiver takes control the same day.
Dispositions of company property after the petition can be void - which is why moving money once you're served creates problems rather than solving them.
The five ways to respond
Pay or settle the debt (other creditors may substitute in, so take advice on timing); dispute it, where the dispute is genuine and evidenced - a petition is not the forum for debt collection on contested sums; negotiate a Time to Pay arrangement where HMRC is the petitioner; enter administration, whose moratorium suspends the petition where a viable business justifies it; or enter voluntary liquidation before the hearing - the same ending on far better terms.
The mistakes that forfeit options
Ignoring the petition; assuming the advertised hearing date is your deadline to start thinking; and paying favoured creditors from the frozen position - each closes doors that same-day advice keeps open.
If you've been served, call today - this is the one page on this site where that isn't marketing.
Call our licensed insolvency practitioners in Manchester on 0333 023 5090 - free, confidential, and directly with an ICAEW-licensed IP.
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This page is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or professional advice. Always take advice from a licensed insolvency practitioner about your specific position.