Compulsory winding-up order: what it means
What a court winding-up order means for a company's suppliers and customers, why it is the most severe insolvency outcome, and what creditors should do.
- Severity
- Critical
- Category
- Legal
- Plan
- Free and above
- Test code
- LEG-023
What this test checks
Looks for a winding-up order in the Gazette. The court makes the order after hearing a winding-up petition, and the company enters compulsory liquidation with the Official Receiver as liquidator.
It is the most severe and usually final insolvency outcome: the company stops trading, its bank accounts are frozen and its assets are sold to pay its creditors in a fixed order of priority.
What a fail looks like
A winding-up order has been made. The company is effectively finished as a going concern, and dealing with it now means dealing with the liquidator.
Harmless explanations
- Very rarely, a court rescinds a winding-up order soon after it is made, for example where the debt had in fact been paid.
What to do
- Stop supplying on credit and submit a proof of debt to the liquidator for anything you are owed.
- If the company paid you after the petition was presented, take advice: the liquidator may be able to reclaim it.
- Replace the supplier.
Background: What insolvency means for a supplier.
Related tests
- LEG-022Winding-Up Petition Active
- COM-060HMRC Petitioner Indicator
- LEG-021Insolvency Process Classification
- LEG-001Active Insolvency Proceedings
Part of the test catalogue. Every check Senserity runs, with its severity and the plan it is available on.
Last reviewed .