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May 2009
Part 1 Fees and costs in insolvency proceedings
This part of the chapter deals with winding-up and bankruptcy orders made by the court under Parts I to XI IA86 [Note 1]. Fees are payable in respect of both company and individual insolvency proceedings for tasks carried out by the official receiver or the Secretary of State.
36.8 Summary of fees to be paid under the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) Order 2004 (FO2004)
A summary of the fees to be charged under the FO2004 (Schedule 2) is given at Annex C. The application of these fees when dealing with partnership cases is set out in a table form at Annex D. The key differences in the treatment of disbursements on estate accounts depends on the date of the insolvency order and whether it occurred before or after 1 April 2004. For all insolvency orders made on or after 1 April 2004, Finance Section will deal with the invoices for disbursements as part of the official receiver’s administration fee.
The official receiver's administration fee is payable for the performance by the official receiver of his/her general duties as official receiver on the making of a bankruptcy order or a winding-up order.
FO2004 [Note 3]provides that references to the performance of the "general duties" of the official receiver on the making of a winding-up or bankruptcy order:
(i) in connection with the appointment of agents for the purposes of, or in connection with, the realisation of assets or ;
(ii) anything done in connection with or, for the purposes of, distributing assets to creditors;
(iii) the realisation of assets on behalf of the holder of a fixed and/or floating charge;
(iv) the supervision of a special manager.
Where the full administration fee is not justified, the (reduced) administration fee charged should be based on the time the official receiver has spent undertaking work as applied by the hourly rates set out in the Insolvency (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (see Annex E) and the case disbursements. The calculation where based on time and rate should exclude VAT. This is because there is no VAT on the administration fee and the time and rate calculation is the means used to calculate a reduced administration fee.
36.10 Fee payable to obtain a debt relief order
Debt Relief Orders (DROs) were introduced from 6 April 2009 by the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, Chapter 15, Schedule 17, which inserted Part 7A of the IA86, Sections 251A-251X. DROs are designed to provide a non-court based scheme of debt relief aimed at people with low disposable income (£50 or less), gross assets totalling less than £300 and liabilities less than £15,000. The national DRO Unit based at the Official Receiver’s office at Plymouth deals with all DRO applications, which are entered in to an automated computer system by approved intermediaries such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. A successful application for a debt relief order requires the individual concerned to pay a fixed, non-refundable £90 fee (fee DR01), which is both an administration fee for the performance by the official receiver of his/her functions and payment of the costs (to a maximum of £10) of the intermediary[Note 4] .The fee must be received by The Insolvency Service Finance Section within 10 days of the submission of the DRO application by an intermediary, otherwise the application is automatically rejected.
36.11 Official Receiver’s administration fees W1 and B1
The official receiver's administration fees are flat, fixed rate fees. Under the FO2004 all insolvency orders made on or after 1 April 2004 are subject to these administration fees. There is one administration fee for compulsory company cases (fee W1 £2,160) and one for bankruptcy cases (fee B1 £1,715), to be charged on the making of the winding-up order and bankruptcy order respectively. These cover the stationery and other incidental fees that used to be separately charged under the old financial regime, as well as all common official receiver disbursements such as travel and subsistence, the Gazette and advertising costs. Following the implementation of the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2007 the administration fees were extended to include costs associated with the duty of the official receiver to investigate and report upon the affairs of companies in liquidation and bankrupts.
36.12 Official receiver’s (non asset recovery) actions covered by the administration fee
(Amended February 2011)
The general principle is that if the work should be done by the official receiver and relates to the official receiver's duties, then it should be covered by the administration fee, regardless of whether the official receiver does it directly him/herself or if he/she instructs someone else to carry out the work on his/her behalf. An example of this is where the official receiver requests a professional medical report on a director or bankrupt, as part of the official receiver’s usual statutory duties. It follows that if there are any expenses incurred by the official receiver in undertaking the necessary work, such as the cost of a process server’s expenses regarding a public examination, they should not be charged to the insolvency estate but should be paid from the Vote account.
36.13 Costs incurred in realising assets (insolvency practitioner costs)
Costs incurred by the official receiver as trustee or liquidator in respect of the protection and realisation of assets are charged to the estate as disbursements. This does not include any time and rate costs which are not charged in practice. Insolvency practitioners in practice should only incur costs in connection with the realisation or distribution of assets. Their costs should be charged to the estate as they are not covered by the administration fee. In this way, the costs of administering the assets in an insolvency estate, whether that work is undertaken by an official receiver or an insolvency practitioner, have the same basis.
36.14 Distribution costs
(amended May 2010)The administration fee excludes the function of realising and distributing assets to creditors. Since 1 April 2004 distribution costs on all cases, i.e. for cases where the winding-up order or bankruptcy order is pre or post 1 April 2004, have been charged using the time and rate calculation [Note 5],[Note 6]. For further information go to paragraph 36.43 and Chapter 36A Part 1.
36.15 Disbursements (general) where insolvency order pre 1 April 2004
For cases where the winding-up order or bankruptcy order was made before 1 April 2004, all disbursements should be charged to the individual estates. These disbursements must be sent to EAS for payment.
36.16 Disbursements (general) where insolvency order made on or after 1 April 2004
For cases where the winding-up order or bankruptcy order is made on or after 1 April 2004, the majority of disbursements are included in the administration fee and therefore should not be charged to the estate but paid for from Vote. These disbursements must be sent to Finance Section for payment. If the disbursement relates to the realisation of assets or the distribution of funds to creditors, it is not covered by the administration fee and should be charged to the individual estate in all cases. These disbursements should be sent to EAS for payment.
36.17 Treatment of disbursements - pre and post 1 April 2004
The following table summarises the treatment of disbursements in insolvency cases pre 1 April 2004 and post 1 April 2004:
Description of disbursement Relevant date Official receiver's administration fee applicable Charge to estate Send invoice to EAS or Finance Section Comments Advertisement Date of invoice up to and including 31 March 2004 No Yes EAS Advertisement Date of invoice on or after 1 April 2004 and petition presented before 6 April 2009 Yes No Finance Section No invoices should be received by the official receiver due to the consolidated invoice agreement with MK Howard Ltd (see paragraphs 36.18 - 36.19). Advertisement Petition presented on or after 6 April 2009, Insolvency(Amendment) Rules 2009 apply. Advertising in addition to Gazette is discretionary. If additional advert deemed necessary cost is included. No Finance Section The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2009 came into force on 6 April 2009. The revised Rules require mandatory publication in The London Gazette of key insolvency events. Any further advertising in addition to the Gazette to be at the discretion of the official receiver as office holder (see paragraph 36.20) Advertisement for distributions Date of invoice on or after 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Finance Section will have paid the consolidated invoice but EAS will need to reimburse Vote for distribution advertisements (see paragraph 36.23 ). Gazette Notice (other than provisional liquidations and dividends) Petition presented on or after 6 April 2009 Yes No Finance Section (ORBS) Payment of the invoices relating to these Gazette notices is dealt with centrally by Official Receivers’ Business Services (see paragraph 36.22).
Gazette Notice (provisional liquidations and dividends) Petition presented on or after 6 April 2009 No Yes Finance Section (Public Interest Unit/National Dividends Unit) Invoiced payments relating to the Gazette notice for provisional liquidations and dividends dealt with separately by PIU and NDU respectively, costs of these notices not included in administration fee (see paragraph 36.22). Court fees Insolvency order date pre 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS (See paragraphs 36.24-36.26). Court fees - relating to the official receiver's general duties Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 Yes No Finance Section (See paragraphs 36.24-36.26) Court fees - relating to the realisation of assets Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS (See paragraphs 36.24-36.26) Land Registry Statement as at 31 March 2004 No Yes EAS Land Registry Statement as at 30 April 2004 and after Yes No Finance Section Land Registry - Form J restrictions Pre and post 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Redirection of mail Insolvency order date pre 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Redirection of mail Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 Yes No Finance Section Paid centrally Travel and subsistence Insolvency order date pre 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Travel and subsistence (non asset related) Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 Yes No Finance Section Travel and subsistence (asset related) Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Cost of collecting books and accounting records Insolvency order date pre 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS Cost of collecting books and accounting records Insolvency order date on or after 1 April 2004 Yes No Finance Section Experian Insolvency order date pre and post 1 April 2004 Yes No Finance Section A consolidated invoice is sent to Finance Section (see paragraph 36.31). Insurance Insolvency order date pre and post 1 April 2004 No Yes EAS These costs are associated with the realisation of assets, therefore not covered by administration fee (see paragraph 36.32).
36.18 Service Level Agreement for advertising (non Gazette)
The Insolvency Service has a Service Level Agreement with MK Howard Limited for all statutory advertising carried out by the official receiver (except London Gazette notices) for publication in the "classified" sections of newspapers. MK Howard Limited raises one, weekly, consolidated, invoice sent to Finance Section for direct payment. Official receivers receive a copy of the advert and the charge details by case.
Official receivers should ensure that the charge details are checked to ensure that charges relate to valid advertisements supplied, however the local office does not need to authorise an invoice for payment. Where there is an incorrect charge, the official receiver must take this up with MK Howard to ensure that the error is corrected in the next consolidated invoice. This communication must be copied to Finance Section. See paragraphs 36.19-36.22 for details of the Rule changes concerning advertisements on cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2009.
36.19 Advertising where petition presented before 6 April 2009
In cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2009 the requirement to advertise and procedure for advertising remains as it was. The cost of advertisements in cases where the insolvency order was made on or after 1 April 2004 is covered by the administration fee except for advertisements relating to distributions.
36.20 Advertising where petition presented post 6 April 2009
The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2009 (the 2009 Rules) came into force on 6 April 2009. These revised Rules continue to require mandatory publication in The London Gazette of key insolvency events, with any further advertising in addition to the notice in the Gazette to be at the discretion of the official receiver as office holder, and there is no requirement that this must be by newspaper.
The 2009 Rules apply to cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2009. For cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2009 the Insolvency Rules previously in force will continue to apply.
In cases where the petition is presented on or after 6 April 2009 and the official receiver exercises his/her discretion to advertise in a newspaper, agents will continue to be used. The cost of an advertisement in these circumstances is covered by the administration fee except for advertisements relating to distributions.
See Chapter 5 for full details concerning the implications of the introduction of the 2009 Rules.
36.21 Annulment advertisement included in administration fee
Where the request to advertise an annulment is made within 28 days of the annulment, this is deemed as covered by the administration fee.
36.22 Gazette Notices post 6 April 2009
Payment of the invoices relating to new Gazette notices required as a result of the implementation of the 2009 Rules will be dealt with centrally, with Official Receivers’ Business Services dealing with the audit and payment. The exceptions to this are the payment of Gazette notices relating to provisional liquidations and dividends, which will be dealt with separately by Public Interest Unit and the National Dividends Unit respectively, as the costs of these notices are not part of the administration fee.
36.23 Advertisement of dividends
The 2009 Rules which introduced discretionary advertising in addition to the notice in the Gazette (see paragraph 36.20) apply to cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2009. For cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2009 the Insolvency Rules previously in force will continue to apply.
Advertisements for dividends (as they relate to distributions) are not covered by the administration fee and where required need to be charged to the estate. This will also include advertisements of returns of capital to contributories in companies. MK Howard record distributions on their charge details as "intentions to pay". Following approval for payment the National Dividends Unit (NDU) will forward the charge details for distribution advertisements to EAS to enable them to arrange for payment from the estate.
The official receiver may be required to pay certain court fees, these are currently governed by the Civil Proceedings (Fees) Order 2008 [Note 9], which came in to force from 1 May 2008, and the Civil Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2008 (SI 2008/2853) which came in to force from 26 November 2008. Exemptions apply for certain fees where the official receiver is acting only in that capacity and not as liquidator or trustee of the bankruptcy estate (see also paragraph 36.25)
Amendment of this order is completed by statutory instrument. Details of updated fees are usually provided in a Technical Notice news item or Finance News item.
36.25 Court fees payable by the official receiver
No fee is payable on a request or on an application to the court (county court or High Court) by the official receiver, when applying only in the capacity of official receiver to the case (and not as liquidator or trustee) [Note 10]. Fees which the official receiver may have to pay are :
36.26 Applications where court fees may be payable by the official receiver
Examples of applications where the official receiver may have to pay court fees are:
The administration fee covers applications that relate to the performance by the official receiver of his general duties as official receiver on the making of a bankruptcy order or a winding-up order (e.g. a rule 7.20 IR86 application). The official receiver should requisition a cheque from Finance Section. In the majority of applications in this category no fee will arise as the official receiver is exempt from fees when applying in his capacity as official receiver.
The administration fee will not cover applications that are associated with the realisation of assets, where the official receiver is likely to be making application as liquidator or trustee (e.g. an IPO application, application for revocation of FTVA.). In these circumstances, the official receiver should requisition a cheque from EAS against a specific estate account.
HM Land Registry issue an invoice, for the searches carried out, to the official receiver. This invoice should be authorised by the official receiver and sent to Finance Section for payment. It should not be allocated against the estates.
Official receivers must, as part of their corporate governance, decide what level of checking is required before the invoice can be authorised. The cost of obtaining a title plan or copy of the title register is currently £3. A 10% check of the searches may be appropriate, with further checks only being performed if errors have been found.
The cost of a Form J restriction (£40) is not covered by the administration fee as it relates to the realisation of assets. For all insolvency orders since1 April 2004, the process for obtaining payment for the cost of a Form J restriction begins with the cashier responsible entering the relevant information on Land Registry form RX1, which is signed by the official receiver or his/her deputy . This is then sent (usually in a batch with other Form J restrictions) with form LRCLET to EAS, who will prepare a cheque to be sent to HM Land Registry with the batched applications. The alternative method of payment is by direct debit, and the Key number (entered at box 7 on form RX1) will be used as the reference to ensure the correct account is charged for the Form J restriction to be entered at the Land Registry.
The redirection of mail is included in the official receiver’s administration fee, and the costs of any redirection order are paid centrally by Finance Section against an invoice submitted by Royal Mail. In the unlikely event that a redirection of mail is required in a pre 1 April 2004 case the expense should be identified to Finance Section as a cost to be charged against the estate, to enable the necessary adjustment to be made with EAS.
36.29 Travel and subsistence
A travel and subsistence claim in connection with further investigation work undertaken after 1 April 2004 should be sent to Finance Section for payment. The payment will be allocated to an enforcement ledger heading.
36.30 Apportioning collection of books and accounting records and asset recovery costs
Where agents are employed to collect books and records and deal with assets, the agent should be asked to raise one invoice which clearly apportions the costs between the different activities. The official receiver can authorise the invoice, and forward to EAS, clearly identifying which amounts relate to the books and records collection and which amounts relate to asset recovery. EAS will pay the proportion that should be allocated to the estate and will send a copy of the invoice to Finance Section who will arrange for the balance to be paid from Vote (official receiver case disbursements). Where the costs in dealing with the collection of books and records is the majority cost and there is minimal cost in relation to asset recovery matters, the official receiver may decide not to apportion the invoice and simply send the invoice to Finance Section to be dealt with as a Vote payment. If there is any doubt regarding the balance of different costs, the official receiver should apportion the amounts as outlined.
Experian raises a consolidated invoice to Finance Section who will authorise the payment. It should not be allocated against the estates. Experian will send the official receiver a list of the searches, and official receivers should, as part of their corporate governance, decide what level of checking is required. A 10% check of the searches may be appropriate, with further checks only being performed if errors have been found.
As insurance costs are associated with the realisation of assets, the administration fee does not cover them. The payment instruction should be sent to EAS and charged to a specific estate account. This is applicable to insolvency orders made pre and post 1 April 2004.
36.33 Public Interest Unit (PIU) cases - pre 1 April 2004
Where an order appointing a provisional liquidator/interim receiver or a winding-up order/bankruptcy order is before 1 April 2004, all disbursements on PIU cases must be charged to the individual estate. The payment should be sent to EAS.
36.34 Public Interest Unit (PIU) cases - post 1 April 2004
Where an order appointing a provisional liquidator/interim receiver has been made, any disbursements up to the date of the winding-up order or bankruptcy order are charged to the estate. Where the winding-up order or bankruptcy order was made on or after 1 April 2004, the decision on whether further disbursements on a PIU case should be charged to the estate will be determined on exactly the same basis as any other insolvency case which the official receiver administers.
If the invoice relates to items that are covered by the administration fee, it should be authorised by the official receiver and passed to Finance Section. If the invoice relates to the official receiver dealing with assets, it should be authorised by the official receiver and passed to EAS for payment, and charged to the estate.
36.35
Cost centres and codesWhere these instructions specify that you should send the payment to Finance Section, the official receiver's office should use their own cost centre and the following account codes:
Code H3100 - official receiver case disbursements (except travel & subsistence),
Code G1600 - travel and subsistence official receiver case disbursements.
Payments will be made by EAS or Finance Section. If an official receiver sends the payment to EAS by mistake, EAS staff will, where possible, redirect the instruction to Finance Section and notify the official receiver by email of the error. Finance Section will try to do the same, provided that the date of the order is clearly visible from the documentation. Official receivers must ensure that when they authorise the invoice for payment they record the date of the bankruptcy or winding-up order next to the authorisation stamp. Finance Section staff do not routinely check the date of the insolvency order, as they do not have access to Central Index or LOIS.
36.36 Abolition of Secretary of State fee - insolvency order pre 1 April 2004
The Insolvency Fees Order 1986 was revoked in its entirety on 1 April 2007, by the implementation of the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2007. This means that the fees required to be paid in respect of old cases (cases commenced under Insolvency Act 1986 after 29 December 1986, where the insolvency order was made before 1 April 2004) for the performance by the Secretary of State of his general duties, fixed by reference to a percentage of an amount paid in to the ISA by trustees, liquidators or the official receiver, have been abolished. In these cases the authority under Article 4(2) of the Insolvency Fees Order 1986 has been revoked, which means there is no Secretary of State fee payable on funds paid in to the ISA on or after 1 April 2007 for these cases.
36.37 Abolition of realisation fee when acting as receiver and manager - insolvency order pre 1 April 2004
The requirement for the official receiver to charge a realisation fee when acting as the receiver and manager of a bankruptcy estate in cases where the insolvency order was made before 1 April 2004, was removed as a result of the implementation of the Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2007. This also applies where funds are paid in to the ISA for these cases after 1 April 2007.
36.38 Secretary of State Fee - Insolvency order on or after 1 April 2004 (Fees W2 and B2)
For the performance of general duties under the insolvency legislation in relation to the administration of the estate of each company or bankruptcy by the Secretary of State, there is a fee payable (up to a maximum of £80,000)[Note 12] which is calculated as a percentage of total chargeable receipts (see explanatory note and worked example at paragraph 36.40) relating to the company or bankruptcy (fee W2 and B2). The rate is 17% for both company and bankruptcy cases. The first £2,000 of chargeable receipts is not subject to the Secretary of State fee in both company and bankruptcy cases. In addition, in relation to “excepted cases” (which are company and bankruptcy cases where the insolvency order was made on or before 31 March 2005), receipts on or after 6 April 2009 relating to these cases are not subject to the Secretary of State fee. This is because receipts already in hand on these cases are predicted to produce a surplus [Note 13].
In addition to the restrictions on charging the Secretary of State fee as detailed in paragraph 36.38, in bankruptcy only, no Secretary of State fee is charged on that part of the total receipts which exceeds the bankruptcy ceiling. The FO2004 [Note 14]describes the bankruptcy ceiling as the sum arrived at by adding together:
Where known creditors have not proved their debts and therefore it is not possible to pay all debts listed in the bankruptcy, there is authority in the case of In Re Ward, Ex parte Hammond and Son v The Official Receiver and the Debtor [1942] Ch 294 to the effect that for the purposes of section 330(5), creditors means creditors who have proved in the bankruptcy. Where creditors remain unproved and the trustee is calculating the bankruptcy ceiling, the case of Re Ward provides the authority for the trustee to include only the proved creditors and the statutory interest paid to them as the bankruptcy debts required to be paid under the Rules.
'Chargeable receipts' are described as those sums which are paid into the Insolvency Services Account (ISA), after first deducting any amounts paid into the ISA which are subsequently paid out to secured creditors in respect of their securities or in carrying on the business of the company or the bankrupt [Note 15].
Chargeable receipts worked example:
Description Amount (£) Balance on ISA (£) Proceeds realised from sale of property interest (paid in to ISA)* 15,000 (less monies paid to creditor holding secured charge) (2,000) 13,000 (less wages paid to employee to maintain shop premises whilst business continued) (5,000) 8,000 (less first £2,000 against which the Secretary of State fee is not chargeable) (2,000) 6,000 Secretary of State Fee payable 6,000 x17%= 1,020
*Note: Receipts on or after 6 April 2009 relating to “excepted cases” are not subject to the Secretary of State fee, see paragraph 36.38)
36.41
Investment Fee INV1Each request made by a trustee in bankruptcy or a liquidator in a compulsory or a voluntary winding up for the sale or purchase of any government securities must be accompanied by the appropriate amount of fee INV1. This varies depending on whether the amount of the purchase or sale of the securities (including accrued interest) is less than £5,000 (when the fee is £50) or exceeds £5,000 (when the fee is £50 plus 0.3% of the cost or proceeds exceeding £5,000)(see Annex C) [Note 16].
Where VAT is chargeable in respect of a service for which a fee is prescribed by virtue of the provisions of the FO2004, VAT is payable in addition to that fee, e.g. VAT is chargeable on the time and rate fee charged when making a distribution to creditors. The VAT must be charged regardless of whether the estate is registered for VAT[Note 17]. No VAT is charged on the administration fee or where time and rate is used to calculate the reduced administration fee, see paragraph 36.9.
36.43 Official receiver's remuneration (Time and Rate Fee) (amended May 2010)
The IRegs 1994 (as amended) provide that the official receiver shall be entitled to remuneration calculated in accordance with the applicable hourly rate [Note 18] for services provided by him/her in relation to:
a) a distribution made by him/her when acting as liquidator or trustee to creditors (including preferential or secured creditors or both such classes of creditors);
b) the realisation of assets on behalf of the holder or a fixed or floating charge or both types of those charges;
c) the supervision of a special manager;
d) the performance by him/her of any functions where he/she acts as provisional liquidator; or
e) the performance by him/her of any functions where he/she acts as an interim receiver.
In other words, where the official receiver makes a distribution or performs a task for which there is no fee applicable, he/she should charge the time and rate fee for his/her remuneration. The time spent by each member of staff in carrying out the duty should be recorded and the fee is based on an hourly rate for each grade. Work carried out by staff, grades A1 to D2, is chargeable using the appropriate tables as detailed at Chapter 36A Part 1 and Chapter 36A Annex C. There are separate tables for calculating the remuneration of the official receiver in London (table 2) and the remuneration of the official receiver of any other district (table 3) [Note 19],[Note 20].
36.44 Costs of convening a requisitioned meeting of creditors
Creditors have the power to requisition a meeting of creditors for the purpose of appointing a liquidator or trustee in a case where the official receiver has not yet summoned, or has decided not to summon, a meeting [Note 21],[Note 22]. The rules provide that the requisitioning creditor is responsible for paying the expenses of summoning and holding such a meeting and he/she must deposit funds with the official receiver to cover those expenses. Further, the rules state that the official receiver should take no action regarding summoning the meeting without such a deposit having been made[Note 23],[Note 24]. See also paragraph 36.45 for information concerning payment of these expenses.
36.45 Payment of advertising costs of requisitioned meeting
Following the introduction of the case administration fee (fee W1 and B1), and the repeal of the prescribed meetings fee in the FO2004, the requisitioning creditor is not required to pay a meetings fee. Where the official receiver fixes a meeting following its requisition by a creditor, the requisitioning creditor should still be charged for any advertisement [Note 25], [Note 26]. Once the advertising charge is received from the requisitioning creditor, it should be deposited in the estate account.
Due to the consolidated billing arrangement with MK Howard Limited (see paragraph 36.18), a separate invoice will not be issued for the advertisement of a requisitioned meeting. The cost of the advertisement is paid from Vote by Finance Section in the first instance. The official receiver then identifies the charge notice for the requisitioned meeting advertisement sent by MK Howard, authorises it for payment and sends it to EAS. He/she will then arrange for the payment to be made from the relevant estate account to reimburse the Vote account.
Should the official receiver have to hire a room for the purpose of holding a requisitioned meeting, the cost of the room hire should be charged to the requisitioning creditor and payment deposited into the estate account once received from the requisitioning creditor. Invoice for payment should be authorised and sent to EAS for payment from the estate account.
36.46 Trust deed assets - evaluation costs
Should the official receiver become aware of a potential asset which appears to be held in trust as a result of a Declaration of Trust Agreement or similar, he/she will be liable to pay (from the estate) for any legal advice or service employed to validate or refute such an agreement. Where the official receiver has no funds in the estate to pay for these services, he/she may notify creditors of the potential interest in the asset allegedly held in trust, with a view to the creditors providing funds to investigate the validity of the trust and/or to nominate an insolvency practitioner to deal with the potential asset.
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