The Insolvency (England and Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026

Statutory Instruments

2026 No. 561

INSOLVENCY, ENGLAND AND WALES

COMPANIES

INDIVIDUALS

The Insolvency (England and Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026

Made

27th May 2026

Laid before Parliament

28th May 2026

Coming into force

22nd June 2026

The Lord Chancellor has consulted the committee existing for the purposes of section 413 of the Insolvency Act 1986(1).

The Lord Chancellor makes the following Rules in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 411 and 412 of the Act, with the concurrence of the Chancellor of the High Court (by authority of the Lady Chief Justice under sections 411(7) and 412(6) of that Act) in relation to those rules which affect court procedure, and with the concurrence of the Secretary of State.

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Rules may be cited as the Insolvency (England and Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026.

(2) These Rules extend to England and Wales only.

(3) These Rules come into force on 22nd June 2026.

Amendments to the Insolvency Rules 2016

2.  The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016(2) are amended as follows.

3.  In rule 1.2 (defined terms)—

(a) for the definition of “judge”, substitute ““judge” means an appropriate judge in accordance with any relevant Practice Direction;”;

(b) in the definition of “Practice Direction” after “the CPR” insert “and includes any practice direction on insolvency proceedings”;

(c) omit the definition of “registrar”.

4.  In rule 1.45 (electronic delivery of documents), after paragraph (6) insert—

“(7) Electronic delivery does not include delivery by fax.”.

5.  In rule 1.46—

(a) for the heading, substitute “Electronic delivery of documents to or by the court”; and

(b) after paragraph (2), insert—

“(3) Where these Rules require more than one copy of a document to be delivered to the court, or by the court to a party, and the document is delivered electronically, only one copy is to be delivered.”.

6.  In rule 3.20 (appointment taking place out of court business hours: procedure)—

(a) in paragraph (1), omit sub-paragraph (a) and the “or” after it;

(b) in paragraph (3), omit “telephone number and”;

(c) in paragraph (4)—

(i) omit “telephone number and”;

(ii) for “them”, in both places where it occurs, substitute “it”;

(d) in paragraph (5), omit sub-paragraph (a) and the “or” after it;

(e) in paragraph (6), omit “fax transmission report or”;

(f) in paragraph (8), omit “faxed or”;

(g) in paragraph (9)—

(i) in sub-paragraph (a), omit “faxed or”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (b), omit “fax transmission report or”;

(h) in paragraph (10), for sub-paragraph (a) substitute—

“(a) the date and time when, according to the appointer’s hard copy of the email, the notice was sent; and”.

7.  In rule 3.21(1)(j)(ii) omit “fax transmission report or”.

8.  In rule 3.22 (appointment taking place out of court business hours: legal effect)—

(a) in paragraph (2)(a), omit “fax transmission or”;

(b) in paragraph (3), omit “fax transmission report or”.

9.  In rule 3.24(1)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (i)(ii), for “appointment; and” substitute “appointment.”;

(b) omit sub-paragraph (j).

10.  In rule 3.25(2)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (j)(ii), for “administrator; and” substitute “administrator.”;

(b) omit sub-paragraph (k).

11.  In rule 8.24(2)(c) (report of the creditors' consideration of a proposal), for “main, territorial or non-EU proceedings” substitute “COMI proceedings, establishment proceedings or proceedings to which the EU Regulation as it has effect in the law of the United Kingdom does not apply”.

12.  In rule 9.4 (delivery of application), omit paragraph (4).

13.  In rule 10.11(1)(a) and (b) (court in which petition is to be presented), for “£50,000” substitute “£500,000”.

14.  In rule 10.36 (procedure for making a bankruptcy application and communication with the adjudicator), omit paragraph (5).

15.  In rule 10.87 (vacation of office on completion of bankruptcy (sections 298(8) and 331)), for paragraph (3)(f) substitute—

“(f) that the trustee will vacate office under section 298(8) when, after the end of the prescribed period, the trustee—

(i) files with the court a notice that the trustee has given notice to the creditors under section 331, where the bankruptcy is based on a creditor’s petition; or

(ii) delivers to the official receiver a notice that the trustee has given notice to the creditors under section 331, where the bankruptcy is based on a debtor’s application; and”.

16.  In rule 12.2 (performance of functions by the court)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “judge, District Judge or a registrar.” substitute “judge.”;

(b) in paragraph (2), for “The registrar or District Judge” substitute “A judge”.

17.  In rule 12.30(7) (general power of transfer)—

(a) in the opening words for “by—” substitute “by a judge.”; and

(b) omit sub-paragraphs (a) and (b).

18.  In rule 12.34(5) (consequential transfer of other proceedings), for “registrar”, in both places it occurs, substitute “judge”.

19.  In rule 12.37 (application for a block transfer order)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “the registrar or District Judge” substitute “a judge”;

(b) in paragraph (7)(c), for “registrar or District Judge” substitute “judge”.

20.  In rule 12.38 (action following application for a block transfer order)—

(a) in paragraph (1), for “The registrar or District Judge”, in the first place where it occurs, substitute “A judge” and in the second “the judge”;

(b) in paragraph (2), in the opening words for “the registrar or District Judge” substitute “a judge”;

(c) in paragraph (2)(d), for “the registrar or District Judge or a judge of the Chancery Division.” substitute “a judge.”.

21.  In rule 12.40(3) (office copies of documents), for “registrar or District Judge” substitute “judge”.

22.  In rule 13.2(2) (persons entitled to act on official receiver's behalf), for “the registrar or District Judge.” substitute “a judge.”.

23.  In rule 14.1(6), for “(4)” substitute “(5)”.

24.  In rule 18.3(1), omit sub-paragraph (b).

25.  In rule 18.30(2) (remuneration: exceeding the fee estimate), for sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c), substitute—

“(a) where the court fixed the basis, to the court;

(b) where there is a committee (unless the court fixed the basis), to the committee;

(c) in other cases where the creditors or a class of creditors fixed the basis, to the creditors or that class of creditors;”.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Sarah Sackman

Minister for Courts and Legal Services

Ministry of Justice

21st May 2026

I concur by the authority of the Lady Chief Justice

Colin Birss

Chancellor of the High Court

12th May 2026

I concur on behalf of the Secretary of State

Blair McDougall

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Department for Business and Trade

27th May 2026

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (S.I. 2016/1024) following review of the operation of the Rules since their introduction. The principal changes are as follows.

Rule 3 amends the definition of “judge” to refer to any relevant practice direction and omits the obsolete term “registrar”. Rules 16 to 22 make consequential amendments.

Rules 4, 6, 7, 8,12 and 14 remove references to the delivery of documents by fax, as this method of delivery to the courts and the Insolvency Service is no longer available.

Rule 5 amends the requirements for electronic delivery by providing that where a document is delivered electronically, only one copy need be delivered.

Rule 11 amends the centre of main interests test in rule 8.24(2)(c) to bring rule 8.24 into line with rules 8.3 and 8.19, which were previously amended by the Insolvency (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/146).

Rule 13 increases the financial limit for presenting bankruptcy petitions in the London Insolvency District from £50,000 to £500,000.

Rule 15 corrects rule 10.87(3)(f) to provide that where the bankruptcy was commenced by application to an adjudicator, the trustee’s notice on completion of the bankruptcy is to be given to the official receiver.

Rule 25 amends rule 18.30(2) to clarify that, except where the court fixed the fees estimate for the office-holder’s remuneration, a request for approval to exceed the fees estimate must be approved by the creditors’ committee (if there is one) or the creditors or class of creditors which fixed the estimate.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.

An Explanatory Memorandum has been prepared and is available alongside these Rules at www.legislation.gov.uk.

(1)

1986 c. 45.

(2)

S.I. 2016/1024; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 2017/366, 2018/130, and 2021/1028.