How to use the statutory demand calculator
- Choose the debtor. A company (the route to a winding-up petition) or an individual (bankruptcy), and the sum demanded if you want it checked against the thresholds.
- Enter how and when the demand was served. For a company, the day it was left at the registered office; for an individual, the day it was handed over, acknowledged, or the date in the certificate of service.
- Add any application to set it aside. For an individual: when it was filed and how it was decided, which stops and restarts the 21 days.
- Add the petition dates as they happen. When it was presented and served, and the hearing date the court fixed.
- Read the dates and the fees. Each date shows the rule behind it and any reading the calculator has taken, with the court fee and the deposit to present the petition.
- Copy them for the file. Copy the dates, fees and notes for the file or the diary.
A demand on a company and on an individual
| A company | An individual | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum debt | A sum exceeding £750 then due (s.123(1)(a)) | £5,000 or more, alone or together, for a petition (s.267(2)(a) and (4)) |
| Serving the demand | Leaving it at the registered office (s.123(1)(a)) | Personally if practicable; otherwise all that is reasonable to bring it to the debtor’s attention (r.10.2) |
| Time to pay, secure or compound | 3 weeks; the demand says 21 days (s.123(1)(a); r.7.3(1)(h)) | 3 weeks; the demand says 21 days (s.268(1)(a); r.10.1(1)(n)) |
| Challenging the demand | No set-aside procedure; an injunction restraining a petition (r.7.3(1)(k)) | Apply to set it aside within 18 days of service, with no court fee (r.10.4(2)) |
| A petition before the 3 weeks end | Not on the demand | An expedited petition with a statement under s.270; no order until 3 weeks have elapsed (s.271(2)) |
| More than four months to the petition | A witness statement explains the delay (r.7.6(6)) | The petition explains the delay (r.10.7(2)) |
| Court fee and deposit | £352 (fee 3.3) and a £2,600 deposit | £352 (fee 3.1(b)) and a £1,500 deposit |
Statutory demand on a company
A company is deemed unable to pay its debts if a creditor to whom it owes a sum exceeding £750 then due serves a written demand in the prescribed form by leaving it at the company’s registered office, and the company has for 3 weeks afterwards neglected to pay the sum or to secure or compound for it to the creditor’s reasonable satisfaction (IA 1986 s.123(1)(a)). That is a ground for winding up by the court (s.122(1)(f)). The demand must contain what IR 2016 r.7.3 lists, including a statement that the company must pay within 21 days of service. Schedule 4 to the Rules refers back to the Act for how this demand is served, so the calculator counts from the day it was left.
A company cannot apply to set a statutory demand aside. The demand must tell it that it may apply for an injunction restraining the creditor from presenting or advertising a winding-up petition (r.7.3(1)(k)). A statutory demand is also not the only route: a company can be shown to be unable to pay its debts as they fall due in other ways (s.123(1)(e)).
Statutory demand on an individual
The creditor must do all that is reasonable to bring the demand to the debtor’s attention and, if practicable, serve it personally (IR 2016 r.10.2). Served other than personally, with no written acknowledgment, it is deemed served on the date the certificate of service gives as the date by which it will have come to the debtor’s attention, unless the court decides otherwise (r.10.3(5) and (6)). The debtor appears unable to pay once at least 3 weeks have elapsed since service and the demand has been neither complied with nor set aside (IA 1986 s.268(1)(a)), and a petition needs debts of at least £5,000 (s.267(2)(a) and (4)).
The debtor may apply to set the demand aside within 18 days from the date of service (r.10.4(2)), to the court or hearing centre r.10.4(4) requires: normally the debtor’s own hearing centre (r.10.48), which the demand should name. Filing the application stops the time for complying with the demand, subject to any order of the court (r.10.4(5)), and no petition can be presented while it is outstanding (s.267(2)(d)). If the court dismisses it without a hearing, time runs again from the dismissal (r.10.5(2)); if it dismisses it at a hearing, its order authorises a petition as soon as reasonably practicable or from a date it specifies (r.10.5(8)). The court may set the demand aside for a counterclaim, set-off or cross demand equal to or more than the debt, a debt disputed on substantial grounds, security the creditor has not properly valued, or on other grounds (r.10.5(5)).
A creditor may present an expedited petition before the 3 weeks end if there is a serious possibility that the debtor’s property, or its value, will be significantly diminished during that period, and the petition says so (s.270); no bankruptcy order can then be made until at least 3 weeks have elapsed since service of the demand (s.271(2)).
Statutory demands and disputed debts
The rules treat a genuinely disputed debt differently from one that is simply unpaid. On a demand served on an individual, the court may set it aside where the debt is disputed on grounds which appear to it to be substantial (r.10.5(5)(b)). On a company, the Companies Court does not allow a winding-up petition to be used to decide a debt disputed in good faith on substantial grounds, though a dispute with no rational prospect of success does not count, and the court will look at the evidence in detail (Angel Group Ltd v British Gas Trading Ltd [2012] EWHC 2702 (Ch), para 22, summarising the earlier authorities). Where the debt rests on a judgment, order or costs certificate, the court will not inquire into its validity on an individual’s application to set the demand aside (Insolvency Practice Direction para 11.4.4).
How long is a statutory demand valid for?
Neither the Act nor the Rules give a statutory demand an expiry date. But if more than four months have elapsed between service of the demand and presentation of the petition, the petition must explain the reasons for the delay on a bankruptcy petition (r.10.7(2)), and a witness statement must explain them on a winding-up petition (r.7.6(6)). Months are counted under Schedule 5 para 2: the period ends on the day before the corresponding date, or on the last day of the month where there is none. The calculator takes the four months as beginning on the day of service, which gives the earlier date.
The winding-up petition timetable
| Step | Time | IR 2016 rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serve the petition at the registered office | Hand it to a director, other officer, employee or person authorised to accept service there, or else deposit it at or about the office | 7.9(2); Sch 4 para 2 |
| Copies to any liquidator, administrator, receiver or CVA supervisor | Within 3 business days after the day of service | 7.9(5) |
| Gazette notice of the petition | Not less than 7 business days after service, and not less than 7 business days before the hearing | 7.10(4)(b) |
| Certificate of compliance, with a copy of the notice | At least 5 business days before the hearing | 7.12(1) |
| Company’s witness statement in opposition | Not later than 5 business days before the hearing | 7.16 |
| Notice of intention to appear | To reach the petitioner by 4pm on the business day before the hearing | 7.14(6) |
| List of appearances | Handed to the court on the day, before the hearing starts | 7.15(3) |
The court fixes the venue for the hearing and endorses it on the petition (r.7.7(4)). A petition is treated as presented only when the court fee and the deposit are paid (IPD paras 9.3.1 and 9.3.2), and the court may dismiss it if notice is not given in accordance with r.7.10 (r.7.10(5)).
The bankruptcy petition timetable
| Step | Time | IR 2016 rule |
|---|---|---|
| Serve the petition | Personally, unless the court orders another way | 10.14; Sch 4 |
| Earliest hearing | At least 14 days after service, unless the debtor has absconded, consents, or the court expedites it | 10.21 |
| Debtor’s notice of opposition | Not less than 5 business days before the hearing | 10.18 |
| Notice of intention to appear | To reach the petitioner by 4pm on the business day before the hearing | 10.19(5) |
| List of appearances | Handed to the court on the day, before the hearing starts | 10.20(3) |
The petition states the date and manner of service of the demand and that, to the best of the creditor’s knowledge and belief, the demand has been neither complied with nor set aside and no application to set it aside is outstanding (r.10.9(2)); a certificate of service of the demand is filed with it (r.10.3(1)). The court fixes the venue for the hearing (r.10.12(6)), and the petition may not be heard until at least 14 days have elapsed since service on the debtor (r.10.21(1)).
Counting the days
Periods in days are clear days, under CPR 2.8 as applied by IR 2016 Schedule 5 para 1 (without CPR 2.8(4)): neither the day the period runs from nor the day of the event it is measured to is counted. Where the last day for a filing falls when the court office is closed, filing on the next day it is open is in time (CPR 2.8(5)), but that does not move the time for paying the debt. The Act counts the time to comply in weeks; the calculator reads 3 weeks as 21 days from the day after service, so the debtor has the whole of the 21st day and a petition can follow on the next.
A business day for bankruptcy excludes England and Wales bank holidays (IR 2016 r.1.2); for a company it excludes a bank holiday in any part of Great Britain (IA 1986 s.251), so Scottish bank holidays such as 2 January, the first Monday in August and St Andrew’s Day are not counted, though the courts in England and Wales are open. Schedule 4 applies CPR Part 6 to service, treating a bankruptcy demand as a document other than a claim form (CPR 6.26) and a petition as a claim form (CPR 6.14, deemed served on the second business day after the step). Where those deeming rules give a later date than the day of the step, the calculator uses the cautious date for each side and says which on each date.
Court fee and the official receiver’s deposit
Presenting a creditor’s winding-up petition costs a court fee of £352 (fee 3.3) and a bankruptcy petition £352 (fee 3.1(b)), from 13 July 2026. The petitioner also pays the official receiver’s deposit with the petition, which is not a court fee: £2,600 on a winding-up petition and £1,500 on a bankruptcy petition (Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) Order 2016, art 2). No court fee is payable on an application to set aside a statutory demand (Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, Sch 1, under fee 3). The civil court fees calculator lists the other insolvency fees.
Unpaid costs and statutory demands
A party must pay costs within 14 days of the judgment or order that states their amount, or of the certificate that fixes them after detailed assessment, unless the court specifies another date (CPR 44.7(1)); the detailed assessment deadline calculator gives that date, and the interest on costs calculator the interest that runs on them. A statutory demand for the costs should not be served until that date has passed: until then they are not payable immediately (IA 1986 s.268(1)) or then due (s.123(1)(a)). Where a statutory demand on an individual rests on a costs certificate, the court will not inquire into the certificate’s validity on the debtor’s application to set the demand aside (IPD para 11.4.4).
Related tools
- Civil court fees calculator, for petition fees and deposits and every other EX50 fee
- Judgment interest calculator, for 8% on a judgment debt
- Fixed costs on issue, judgment and enforcement
- Deemed service calculator, for service under the CPR
- CPR deadline calculator, for any other CPR time limit
- All free tools
Sources
- Insolvency Act 1986 s.122, s.123, s.251, s.267, s.268, s.270 and s.271
- Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016: rules 1.2, 7.3, 7.6, 7.7, 7.9, 7.10, 7.12, 7.13, 7.14, 7.15, 7.16, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.7, 10.9, 10.12, 10.14, 10.18, 10.19, 10.20, 10.21, 10.22, 10.24 and 10.48; Schedule 4 and Schedule 5
- Practice Direction: Insolvency Proceedings (paras 9.1 to 9.8, 11 and 12) and Civil Procedure Rules rule 2.8 and rules 6.14 and 6.26
- Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, Schedule 1 (fee 3) and Insolvency Proceedings (Fees) Order 2016, art 2
- Angel Group Ltd v British Gas Trading Ltd [2012] EWHC 2702 (Ch)
- GOV.UK: bank holidays (England and Wales, and Scotland) and GOV.UK: statutory demands