Records With Insolvency Practitioner (Including Own Records)

Chapter 10

July 2006


10.82 Official receiver to authorise destruction of records


The records of the insolvent in a winding up by the court or a bankruptcy may be destroyed, sold or otherwise disposed of on the authority of the official receiver [note 1].

Where there is a liquidator or trustee other than the official receiver and he/she wishes to destroy records, he/she will ask the official receiver to authorise such destruction. The insolvency practitioner will be asked to complete form BPDC (Books and papers - matters to be considered before destruction). The liquidator’s request and the completed form BPDC should be considered by the official receiver. If authority to destroy is given then the authorised form BPIPD should be returned to the insolvency practitioner.

10.83 Return of records to official receiver by practitioner

A liquidator in a winding up by the court should return the records to the official receiver when he/she has completed his/her administration of a case [note 2]. In bankruptcy the former trustee is required to deliver up to a new trustee any books, papers or other records of which the trustee is required to take possession [note 3]. Where a trustee vacates office and the official receiver becomes trustee during the vacancy [note 4] there is at that stage an obligation on the outgoing trustee to deliver up the records to the official receiver.

10.84 Destruction in situ

In most cases, the official receiver will not want the records returned to him/her by an insolvency practitioner. The official receiver should therefore use Regulations 16 or 30 [note 1] to bring about the destruction of the records. If the official receiver does this while the former liquidator or trustee is still in office, he/she will simply authorise the liquidator or trustee to destroy. If the official receiver deals with the matter after the liquidator or trustee has vacated office, the official receiver has full power under Regulations 16 or 30 to destroy after confirming that HM Revenue and Customs have been consulted.

The practical position is the same in either case: the official receiver asks the liquidator or trustee to dispose of the records instead of delivering them back to him/her.

The procedure as set out in paragraph 10.83 relating to the use of forms [note 5] [note 6] should be followed.

10.85 Obtaining records from insolvency practitioner

The official receiver, on or after becoming liquidator or trustee ex officio when a case has been completed by an insolvency practitioner can request the former liquidator or trustee to pass over to him/her the administrative and financial records of a case which he/she has had to keep [note 7] [note 8]. In many cases the official receiver will have no reason to issue such a request but may[note 9] require the former liquidator or trustee to preserve the records concerned for six years so that the official receiver can exercise his/her right to have them if the need arises.

10.86 Official receiver’s retention of records

Where the official receiver obtains records from an insolvency practitioner, as mentioned in paragraph 10.85, or keeps them as liquidator or trustee, he/she should follow the guidance given in Part 5 and Part 6 as to when the records may be destroyed [note 10].

[Back to Part 7 - Records subject to a lien] [Onto Part 9 - Storage and destruction of official receiver's files]