As bankruptcy is a state of personal affairs, an individual should only have a single set of bankruptcy proceedings against them at any one time.
If a petition has been issued, a different creditor is not allowed to issue a further petition in the same / a different Court but should contact the Creditor who has petitioned (the Petitioning Creditor) and if the first petition is dismissed step into the shoes of the Petitioning Creditor.
If a debtor does discover that there is a further petition against him, whilst the first one is pending, then he ought to apply for a reconsideration of that petition and have the second petition set aside (Insolvency Act 1985, section 375).
As a petition may be issued in either the local court of the debtor (that has Insolvency Jurisdiction) or in the Royal Court of Justice (in the Rolls Building / Central London County Court, sitting in the Thomas Moore Building); the Petitioning Creditor must search both the relevant County Court (at times there may be more than one Court) and also the High Court (either the Central London County Court or the Royal Courts of Justice).
Generally, the search in the County Court will take a number of days and may cost as much as £45.
If the petition is issued in the County Court, in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Direction – Insolvency Proceedings, that Court will also require that a search (at para 14.3) be carried out in the Royal Court of Justice in the Rolls Building / Central London County Court to ensure that there are no other pending petitions.
CPR 14.3 states as follows:-
(14.3.1)
The petitioning creditor shall, before presenting a petition, conduct a search for petitions presented against the debtor in the previous 18 months (a) in the Royal Courts of Justice, (b) in the Central London County Court and (c) in any county court which he believes is or was within that period the debtor's own county court within the meaning of rule 6.9A(3) and shall include the following certificate at the end of the petition –
“I/we certify that I/we have conducted a search for petitions presented against the debtor in the period of 18 months ending today and that [no prior petitions have been presented in the said period which are still pending] [a prior petition (No [ ]) has been presented and is pending in the [ Court] and we are issuing this petition at risk as to costs].
Signed……… Dated………”.
At Benchmark Solicitors we can conduct these searches on your behalf. When acting as an agent for other solicitors in the High Court we will act on a fixed fee of £100 + VAT plus disbursements.
We will request a letter from you on your letter headed paper confirming that Benchmark Solicitors LLP are acting as your agent, that the search is in accordance with the practice direction and preferably attaching a copy of the petition that you are intending to issue.
Chris Tuckett, Solicitor – 28 February 2013