Calling a Meeting
July 2024
Introduction
The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2024 came into force on 6 April 2024 and apply to all cases where the date of presentation of the petition was on or after 6 April 2024 (unless in a company case there was a voluntary winding up resolution or an administration prior to that date). For these cases this Case Help Manual part applies.
For winding up and bankruptcy cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2024 (or in company cases where there was a voluntary winding up resolution or administration before 6 April 2024) the ‘old’ version of the rules will continue to apply, and the previous version of this Case Help manual (CHM) part (Calling a Meeting – December 2024) may be followed. To view this CHM part click HERE.
2. When would the official receiver decide to hold a first meeting?
When the official receiver becomes aware that there are sufficient realisable assets to attract nominations from creditors or contributories for the appointment of an insolvency practitioner (IP) a meeting of creditors should be called having due regard to the guidance given in Technical Manual Chapter 17 paragraph 17.3. The official receiver may also decide to hold a meeting in a case where an IP is willing to act and has the support of creditors despite there being no assets, but such events are rare.
A decision as to whether to call a meeting is normally made by the examiner following completion of the Case Assessment Record (CAR) and the decision recorded on LOIS (CA21).
3. Is there any time when a first meeting must be held?
If 25% in value of the creditors have requested a first meeting, provided all the requirements are met, then the official receiver must hold one. For more information on this subject please refer to the Case Help Manual: Meetings: Requisitioned Meetings.
4. Who is told about a first meeting?
Notices for first meetings must be sent to, all known creditors and contributories, the bankrupt and appropriate company personnel.
The official receiver is required to publish a notice of the meeting in the London Gazette. The official receiver may also advertise the matter in such other manner as he or she thinks fit.
The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2024 has specified the content of these published notices. Gazette and advertising notice templates have been prepared and these should be completed fully to comply with the content requirements of the rules. These forms can be found as Word documents in the ‘Forms to be Used’ section. For further information please see the CHM – Publication of Insolvency Information.
Publishing the notice is a way of telling people about the meeting who otherwise would not know of it e.g. creditors who for some reason have not been included in the Preliminary Information Questionnaire (PIQ) or statement of affairs.
For further details see Case Help Manual part: First meeting generally
5. Where is the meeting held?
Meetings are generally held at the official receiver’s office. However, the Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2024 have introduced provisions that allow the official receiver to hold meetings remotely. This may be done for example via the use of a telephone conference system or by accessing a web-based forum and details of the arrangements must be given in the meetings notices. For more information regarding remote meetings please see the TM Chapter 16 – Meetings Part 12.
6. Do the bankrupt or company personnel have to attend?
The bankruptcy or company personnel must be given at least 14 days notice of a meeting. The official receiver can, should he/she so wish, require them to attend. An appropriate letter is sent to the bankrupt and company officers giving notice of the meeting and stating whether or not their attendance at the meeting is required (Form NBMO).
7. What notices and forms need to be sent out?
The official receiver is required to send notice of the meeting to all known creditors, contributories, the bankrupt and appropriate company personnel. The notice must state the time, date and place of the meeting. This is an appropriate time to also issue the official receiver’s report to creditors but note that the creditors and contributories must also receive a proof of debt form(POD) together with a proxy form(PROXY) for voting purposes.
8. Electronic delivery of meeting notices and use of websites
The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2024 have introduced provisions which permit the official receiver to send the notice of meetings to creditors and contributories by electronic means, provided that the intended recipient has consented to electronic delivery and has provided an electronic address for delivery. Where the official receiver issues a notice by electronic means, the recipient must be informed that they may request a hard copy and be given a telephone number, email address and postal address for making such a request. Where a hard copy of the notice is requested, it must be sent within 5 business days of receipt of the request.
The official receiver may also satisfy the requirement to give notice of a meeting to creditors and/or contributories by the notice being available for viewing or downloading on a website. The official receiver is required to notify creditors of the address of the website together with any password required. As with electronic delivery above, the notice given to creditors must also inform the recipient of their entitlement to request a hard copy.
9. What if there are a large number of creditors?
If the number of creditors makes it impractical for notices to be sent out in the usual way, the official receiver may obtain permission from the court to merely advertise the meeting. This should only happen in exceptional circumstances, for example where an insurance company has many policy holders. An application to court must also be made in these circumstances for an order dispensing with the requirement to send out proofs and other documents to all creditors.
10. How much notice is given of the meeting?
Creditors, contributories (in companies), the bankrupt and where appropriate company officers must be given no less than 14 days notice of the meeting. In practice, taking into account any postal methods, this means sending out the notices no less than 21 days before the meeting is to be held.
The Gazette notice and any other advertisement of the meeting, such as in a newspaper, should be published no less than 14 days before the meeting date.
11. What are the time limits for lodging proofs?
Proofs and proxies must be lodged no later than 12 noon on the business day before the meeting.
Where can I find more?
The Insolvency Rules 1986 as amended by Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2024:
Rule 4.50 – Companies Winding Up – First Meetings
Rules 4.57-4.60 – Companies Winding Up – Meetings of Creditors and Contributories
Rule 6.79 – Bankruptcy – First Meeting of Creditors
Rules 6.83- 6.86 – Bankruptcy – Creditors’ Meetings
The Insolvency Act:
Section 136 – Functions of Official Receiver as liquidator
Section 293 – Summoning of a meeting to appoint first trustee
Technical Manual:
Chapter 5 – Publication of Insolvency Information
Chapter 16 – Meetings
Case Help Manual:
Meetings: Requisitioned Meeting
Proofs and Proxies
Publication of Insolvency Information
LOIS Workbooks: Meetings Process
Forms to be used:
London Gazette (Word template) – company – click HERE
London Gazette (Word template) – bankruptcy – click HERE
NFM – Notice of First Meeting
NFN 1 – Notice for Newspaper covering advertisement – First meeting of creditors – Bankruptcy click HERE
NFN3 – Notice for newspaper covering advertisement – First meeting of creditors/contributories – Company click HERE
NMBO – Notice to a bankrupt/company officer or partner of a meeting and whether their attendance at the meeting is or is not required
POD – Proof of Debt form
PROXY – Proxy Form
Click HERE to view the flowchart for Calling a Meeting for cases where the petition was presented on or after 06 April 2024.
For cases where the petition was presented before 06 April 2024 please see the annexed Case Help Manual Part Calling a Meeting – December 2024.
Procedure
LOIS screen references are given in brackets e.g. (DO73).
1. Receive instruction from the examiner that a meeting is to be held, together with an approved draft of the report to creditors (CAR A form) according to local office practice.
2. Arrange an appropriate date and time for the meeting to be held, ensuring that creditors and contributories will receive at least 14 days notice before the meeting. You should allocate a minimum of 21 days to allow sufficient time for posting, etc. Confirm that the meeting will be held within 4 months of the insolvency order. If not, apply to the court for an extension of time.
3. Where an extension of time has been applied for await the return of the order from court before sending out the notices to the creditors (and contributories in a company).
4. Ensure that the list of creditors on LOIS is complete, including any references (CA31).
5. Input meetings decision, date and time of meeting on LOIS (CA21)
6. Prepare the Notice of First Meeting (NFM) on LOIS (DO73) stating the date and time of the meeting. Send this to all known creditors and contributories with:
- the report to creditors (CAR A form)
- Proof of Debt form (POD) and
- Proxy form (PROXY).
7. Prepare and send form NMBO on LOIS (DO73) to the bankrupt and company officers quoting the date and time of the meeting and state whether or not the bankrupt or company officers are required to attend. The examiner will inform you of this. These parties must also receive at least 14 days notice of the meeting
8. Prepare the Gazette notice and if required, other advertisement e.g. local newspaper (form NFN1 or NFN 3). Templates are available as Word documents and can be found in the ‘Forms to be Used’ section.
For more information see paragraph 4 and also CHM part – Publication of insolvency information.
The creditors, contributories, bankrupt and company personnel must receive their notices at least 14 days before the meeting.
9. Record the meetings date in the diary according to local office practice and update LOIS (CA21) with the date the notices have been sent.
After the meetings notices have all been sent
10. Deal with all proofs and proxies as they arrive ensuring that LOIS is regularly updated with creditors’ information (CA31). For further guidance on this please refer to the Case Help Manual part: Proofs and Proxies.
11. For the next stage in the procedure please refer to Case Help Manual part: Day of Meeting
