A Winding-Up Petition Has Been Presented: Can You Still Get A Moratorium or Go Into Administration?

Yes, a company facing a winding-up petition can still enter administration or obtain a Part A1 moratorium, but only through the court. Once a creditor has presented a petition, paragraph 25(a) of Schedule B1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 stops the company and its directors appointing an administrator out of court, and section A3(1)(a) closes the quick filing route to a moratorium. What remains is an administration application or a moratorium application under section A4, each with its own statutory test, plus one narrow exception where a notice of intention to appoint was filed before the petition was presented.

Directors usually ask this in the days after a petition lands, often because someone has suggested “going into administration” as if it were a form to sign. The surprise is that the petition itself changes the rules. The out-of-court routes stop working the moment a creditor issues at court, and time spent on the wrong paperwork is time lost before the hearing. Our guide on what to do in the first seven days after receiving a winding-up petition sets out the early decisions, and where the debt is genuinely disputed our page on opposing a winding-up petition will usually matter more than any rescue procedure.

ALWAYS OBTAIN SPECIFIC GUIDANCE & ADVICE

The information on this website is not legal advice; you should always obtain specific advice on the circumstances of your case. Our Winding-up Petition Solicitors & Barristers provide specialist legal advice based on decades of expertise. Request a legal assessment or call +442071830529 to get in touch. For regulatory reasons we do not take on low value cases nor provide free legal advice, information or guidance and our team cannot answer questions from non-clients.

What a presented petition changes

The legal clock starts at presentation, the date the petition is issued at court. Section 129(2) of the Insolvency Act 1986 provides that a winding up by the court “is deemed to commence at the time of the presentation of the petition for winding up”. If an order is later made, section 127(1) makes any disposition of the company’s property after that date void “unless the court otherwise orders”. Our pages on selling company assets after a winding-up petition has been presented and on trading during a winding-up petition explain the day-to-day consequences.

For the moratorium regime, section A3(3) treats a company as “subject to an outstanding winding-up petition” if a petition “has been presented” and “has not been withdrawn or determined”. That status runs from issue. It does not wait for service or for advertisement in the Gazette, so a director who has not yet seen the petition may already be locked out of the filing route. Our 2026 guide to winding-up petition procedure sets out the stages from issue to hearing, and our director’s guide to Gazette advertisement of winding-up petitions covers publication.

Why the directors cannot appoint an administrator themselves

Paragraph 22 of Schedule B1 lets a company or its directors appoint an administrator without going to court. Paragraph 25 removes that power where “(a) a petition for the winding up of the company has been presented and is not yet disposed of”. Our director’s guide to choosing between administration and liquidation describes the administration process itself.

The paperwork reinforces the bar. Rule 3.23(1)(g)(i) of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016, SI 2016/1024, requires the notice of intention to appoint to state that there is no “petition for winding up which has been presented but not yet disposed of”. Paragraph 27(2)(c) of Schedule B1 requires a statutory declaration that the appointment is not prevented by paragraphs 23 to 25, and paragraph 27(4) makes it an offence to make a statement in it which is false and which the maker “does not reasonably believe to be true”. A director who signs without checking for a pending petition takes a personal risk, which our page on director liability after a winding-up petition explains.

Does it matter whether the notice of intention or the petition came first?

It matters a great deal. Paragraph 25A(1) provides that paragraph 25(a) “does not prevent the appointment of an administrator of a company if the petition for the winding up of the company was presented after the person proposing to make the appointment filed the notice of intention to appoint with the court under paragraph 27”. Directors who filed first can still complete an out-of-court appointment, unless the petition is a public interest petition or another petition listed in paragraph 42(4) (paragraph 25A(2)). The window is short: paragraph 28(2) prevents an appointment “after the period of ten business days beginning with the date on which the notice of intention to appoint is filed”, and paragraph 26(1) requires at least five business days’ notice to any qualifying floating charge holder unless it consents in writing. Paragraph 44(4) gives the company an interim moratorium while that period runs. Our explanation of how administrators are appointed and what administration involves covers the appointment routes.

An administration application to the court

With the out-of-court route closed, the directors can apply to the court under paragraph 12(1)(b) of Schedule B1. Under paragraph 11 the court may make the order “only if satisfied” that the company “is or is likely to become unable to pay its debts” and that the order “is reasonably likely to achieve the purpose of administration”. Rule 3.8(3)(b)(i) requires the application to be served on “the petitioner”, and rule 3.12(1)(e) allows the petitioner to appear at the hearing. Our page on urgent winding-up petition hearing representation explains how we handle hearings at short notice.

Making the application has an immediate effect. Paragraph 44(1) imposes an interim moratorium until the application is granted or dismissed, and paragraph 44(5) applies paragraph 42, under which “No order may be made for the winding up of the company” (paragraph 42(3)). If the court makes an administration order, paragraph 40(1)(a) provides that the petition “shall be dismissed”. The court need not grant it, and paragraph 13(1)(e) allows it to treat the application as a winding-up petition. Our guidance on obtaining an adjournment of a winding-up petition covers the alternative of buying time at the hearing itself.

Secured lenders keep their own route

A lender holding a qualifying floating charge can appoint an administrator under paragraph 14 of Schedule B1, and a pending petition does not stop it. Paragraph 17 bars a paragraph 14 appointment only where a provisional liquidator has been appointed or an administrative receiver is in office, and paragraph 44(7)(b) confirms that an interim moratorium does not prevent “the appointment of an administrator under paragraph 14”. Where the company has bank or asset-based lending, the lender may offer the quickest route. Where a director has guaranteed that lending, our page on what happens to a personal guarantee when the company is petitioned is relevant to that conversation.

Here the petition is suspended rather than dismissed. Paragraph 40(1)(b) provides that it “shall be suspended while the company is in administration following an appointment under paragraph 14”, and section 127(2) disapplies the voidness rule for “anything done by an administrator” during the suspension. The administrator can therefore deal with the company’s property and accounts, a problem our article on bank accounts frozen after a winding-up petition addresses from the director’s side.

The Part A1 moratorium requires a court order once a petition exists

The moratorium introduced in 2020 normally starts on filing under section A3, but that route is open only to a company which “is not subject to an outstanding winding-up petition”. Section A4(2) instead lets the directors “apply to the court for a moratorium”, and section A4(5) sets the test: the court may make the order “only if it is satisfied that a moratorium for the company would achieve a better result for the company’s creditors as a whole than would be likely if the company were wound up (without first being subject to a moratorium)”. The moratorium starts when the order is made (section A7(1)(b)). The application needs the section A6(1) documents, including a statement from the proposed monitor that a moratorium is likely to “result in the rescue of the company as a going concern”, and the monitor must be “a person qualified to act as an insolvency practitioner” (section A54(1)). A creditor’s petition does not make the company ineligible, since paragraph 2(3)(g) of Schedule ZA1 lists only public interest and similar petitions, but a moratorium in the previous 12 months will, as will a CVA or administration in that period. Our article on why directors should instruct specialist insolvency practitioners covers choosing the practitioner.

What a moratorium does to the creditor’s petition

Section A20(1)(d) provides that during a moratorium “no order may be made for the winding up of the company, except on a petition by the directors”, with public interest petitions excepted by section A20(2) and (3). The initial period is 20 business days (section A9(2)), and section A9(3) lists the routes to extension. Section 127(3) also protects the company’s dealings: section 127 “has no effect in respect of anything done during a moratorium under Part A1” where a later winding-up order is made on a petition presented before the moratorium began. Our guidance on validation orders and how to obtain one urgently explains the position for companies outside that protection.

The moratorium is a payment holiday for most pre-moratorium debts. Section A18(3) lists the exceptions that must still be paid, including “goods or services supplied during the moratorium”, rent for the moratorium period, wages and salary, and debts under financial services contracts. Arrears of tax are not on that list. Under section A38(1)(d), the monitor must end the moratorium if the company cannot pay moratorium debts or the excepted debts as they fall due. Our page on whether you can save your business after a winding-up petition discusses what the rescue itself can look like.

Moratorium first, then a CVA

A company voluntary arrangement no longer carries a moratorium of its own, because Schedule A1 to the Insolvency Act 1986 was omitted with effect from 26 June 2020 by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. The directors can still propose a CVA under section 1(1), and section A14 keeps a Part A1 moratorium running until the proposal is “disposed of”. The sequence matters. Section 5(3A) provides that where a Part A1 moratorium was in force immediately before the CVA took effect, and a petition other than an excepted petition was presented before the moratorium began, “the court must dismiss the petition”, although section 5(4)(a) delays dismissal for 28 days after the reports of the approval decisions reach the court. A CVA agreed without a preceding moratorium carries no equivalent duty. Approval needs “three-quarters or more (in value) of those responding” (rule 15.34(3)). Our comparison of administration, CVA and liquidation sets the procedures side by side.

Breathing space, time to pay and other false friends

Directors searching for a “breathing space” for their company often land on the Debt Respite Scheme. That scheme protects individuals, as our page asking whether breathing space can stop HMRC or another creditor making you bankrupt explains, and a limited company cannot use it to stop a winding-up petition. The corporate equivalent is the Part A1 moratorium.

An HMRC Time to Pay arrangement is also often mistaken for a statutory pause. It is an agreement with HMRC, and our tax pages on HMRC Time to Pay arrangements and on defending HMRC winding-up petitions and statutory demands explain how such agreements are reached. Once HMRC has presented a petition, any agreement has to be reflected in the court process, usually by withdrawal or adjournment, as our step-by-step guide for directors responding to an HMRC winding-up petition explains.

The deadline that matters is the petition hearing

Every route here depends on acting before a winding-up order is made. Paragraph 8(1)(b) of Schedule B1 provides that a person “may not be appointed as administrator of a company which is in liquidation by virtue of” a winding-up order. After that, only a qualifying floating charge holder can apply under paragraph 37, in which case the court “shall discharge the winding-up order” if it makes an administration order (paragraph 37(3)(a)), or the liquidator can apply under paragraph 38. The directors’ own routes are gone, as our guides on what happens after a winding-up order is made and on the impact of compulsory liquidation on directors explain.

The earlier pressure point is advertisement. Rule 7.10(4)(b) requires the petitioner’s notice to appear “not less than seven business days after service of the petition on the company, nor less than seven business days before the day appointed for the hearing”. In our experience banks commonly freeze accounts once the notice appears, which can leave the company unable to fund a practitioner or a court application. Our pages on injunctions to restrain advertisement of a winding-up petition and on validation orders under section 127 deal with that problem.

How We Can Help

We advise directors and companies facing winding-up petitions on which rescue routes remain open, prepare and present administration and section A4 moratorium applications, and oppose or seek adjournments of petitions. We work alongside the insolvency practitioner the company instructs and do not take insolvency appointments ourselves, and where a practitioner’s advice has caused loss our page on insolvency practitioner negligence and suing an administrator explains when a claim may lie. We do not offer free legal advice or legal aid, and we generally take on substantial matters. Our page on last-minute winding-up petition hearing representation describes how we act when the hearing is close.

We are dual qualified solicitors and barristers with chambers in Middle Temple, next to the Royal Courts of Justice. We offer a fixed fee advice conference with both a solicitor and a barrister. To start, complete our insolvency case assessment form.

ALWAYS OBTAIN SPECIFIC GUIDANCE & ADVICE

The information on this website is not legal advice; you should always obtain specific advice on the circumstances of your case. Our Winding-up Petition Solicitors & Barristers provide specialist legal advice based on decades of expertise. Request a legal assessment or call +442071830529 to get in touch. For regulatory reasons we do not take on low value cases nor provide free legal advice, information or guidance and our team cannot answer questions from non-clients.

This article is general information about the law of England and Wales as at 23 October 2026 and is not legal advice. You should take advice on your own circumstances before acting.