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The Insolvency Service Website
The Insolvency Service is the UK government department that is responsible for administrating bankruptcy in the United Kingdom.
The Insolvency Service operates under a statutory framework – mainly the Insolvency Acts 1986 and 2000, the Company Directors Disqualifications Act 1986 and the Employment Rights Act 1996. Our staff are based at our network of 38 Official Receiver offices throughout England and Wales; our Enforcement Directorate and Headquarters in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh; our Banking Section in Birmingham; and our Redundancy Payments offices in Edinburgh, Birmingham and Watford. As of 1st April 2006 Companies Investigation Branch of BERR transferred to The Service and is based in offices in both London and Manchester.
What the Insolvency Service does:
- administer and investigate the affairs of bankrupts, of companies and partnerships wound up by the court, and establish why they became insolvent;
- act as trustee/liquidator where no private sector insolvency practitioner is appointed;
- act as nominee and supervisor in fast-track individual voluntary arrangements;
- take forward reports of bankrupts’ and directors’ misconduct;
- deal with the disqualification of unfit directors in all corporate failures;
- deal with bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertakings;
- authorise and regulate the insolvency profession;
- assess and pay statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay its employees;
- provide banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds;
- advise BERR ministers and other government departments and agencies on insolvency, redundancy and related issues;
- provide information to the public on insolvency and redundancy matters via our website, leaflets, Insolvency Enquiry Line and Redundancy Payments Helpline; and
- conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into companies where it is in the public interest to do so. These enquiries are carried out by Companies Investigation Branch.
The Insolvency Service website is a wonderful resource for those wanting to uncover very technical information regarding bankruptcy. The official Insolvency Service site can be found at Insolvency.gov.uk.