July 2008

Chapter 6A – Annulment

Introduction

6A.1 Introduction to annulment

(Amended April 2010)

Annulment is purely a bankruptcy procedure, available under the Insolvency Act 1986.  This chapter provides information on dealing with applications to annul a bankruptcy order,  concentrating on the most common grounds which are :

1. that on any grounds existing at the time the order was made, the order ought not have been made[Note 1];
2. to the extent required by the rules, the bankruptcy debts and expenses of the bankruptcy have all, since the making of the order, been either paid or secured for to the satisfaction of the court[Note 2];
3. under section 261, where the creditor’s meeting summoned under section 257 approves the proposed voluntary arrangement and the debtor is an undischarged bankrupt, the court shall annul the bankruptcy order on an application made by the bankrupt or, where the bankrupt has not made an application within the prescribed period, by the official receiver[Note 3]
4. under section 263D, where the official receiver reports to the court under section 263C that a proposed [fast track] voluntary arrangement has been approved, the court shall annul the bankruptcy order in respect of the debtor on an application made by official receiver[Note 4];

The Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010 came into force on 6 April 2010 and have had some effect on annulment procedures in cases where the petition was presented on or after 6 April 2010. The relevant paragraphs have been updated to reflect the changes and information is provided  to show when they apply.

Due to the volume of changes required in respect of annulment orders on the grounds of ‘debts and expenses paid in full’, part 3 of this chapter has been re-issued and the guidance therein should be applied to all post 6 April 2010 petition cases. For cases where the petition was presented before 6 April 2010 the previous rules continue to apply and the guidance and advice in Technical Manual Chapter 6A Part 3 (issued July 2008) may be followed. Chapter 6A Part 3 (issue date July 2008) is attached at Annex 1.

This chapter has been subdivided as follows, to assist users in locating the relevant information concerning the different grounds and stages of annulment and associated case law:

Introduction – Annulment introduction - paragraphs 6A.1 to 6A.3

Part 1 – Information applicable to annulment generally - paragraphs 6A.4 to 6A.11

Part 2 – Annulment order on grounds ”ought not to have been made”  - paragraphs 6A.12 to 6A.17

Part 3 - Annulment order on grounds “debts and expenses paid in full” – post 6 April 2010 petition cases - paragraphs  6A.18 to 6A.59

Part 4 - Annulment following approved IVA or FTVA - paragraphs 6A.60 to 6A.67

Part 5 - Costs and fees on annulment  - paragraphs 6A.68 to 6A.85

Part 6 - Effect of annulment on statements of facts and BRUs/BROs - paragraphs  6A.86 to 6A.94

Part 7 - Action required following annulment of bankruptcy order -  paragraphs  6A.95 to 6A.104

Annex 1 – Annulment order on grounds “ debts and expenses paid in full” – pre 6 April 2010 petition cases

6A.2 Abbreviations used

AT - Authorisations Team

BRO - Bankruptcy restrictions order

BRU - Bankruptcy restrictions undertaking

CPR - Civil Procedure Rules 

EAS - Estate Accounts Services

FTVA - Fast Track Voluntary Arrangement

IAR – Insolvency (Amendment) Rules 2010

IIR - Individual Insolvency Register

ISA - Insolvency Services Account

IVA - Individual Voluntary Arrangement

6A.3 Form references used in this chapter

ANNULFTVA - Application for annulment under section 263D

Gazette notice – annulment of proceedings (word template attached to Case Help Manual part Publication of Insolvency Information)

LCRTB - Letter covering reports sent to bankrupt

NABO - Notice of annulment of bankruptcy order    

NFN1 - Notice for newspaper (word template attached to Case Help Manual part Publication of Insolvency Information)

NOACNP - Notice of annulment creditor not proved       

Please note that further details of the forms to be used in annulment matters can be found in the ‘Forms to be Used’ section of the Case Help Manual Part Annulments, Rescissions and Recalls.

[Back to Chapter 6 Appeals, stays, and rescissions] [On to Part 1 Information applicable to annulment generally]